Is the Utah Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson really seen as an underrated player in the NBA?
Is the Utah Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson really someone that the NBA world sees as underrated? Well, Salt Lake City Hoops sure thinks so. And they do make a compelling argument. Writer John Keeffer realized that many of the biggest publications were leaving Clarkson off their list of NBA preseason player rankings, and was shocked by that.
He noted that names like Grant Williams, Bruce Brown, and Nic Claxton made the list (among others) but not Clarkson. So far The Athletic, Bleacher Report, and CBS Sports have checked in, and assuming he used the corresponding links above, then he’s not wrong. The publications didn’t rank Clarkson at all, either in the Top 50 or Top 100 lists.
The Ringer put Clarkson at No. 104, behind Devin Vassell and Russell Westbrook. Malcolm Brogdon, who many wouldn’t over Clarkson is also higher than the Utah Jazz’s shooting guard. Even Jaden McDaniels is higher than Clarkson.
Originally, there was plenty of evidence to argue that Clarkson wasn’t underrated, because how could he be? Sure, he may not be in the Top 50 of the best players in the NBA, but the Top 100? Surely. Nope, and and as this article was sorted out the opinion of it changed, with the narrative going from “of course he’s not underrated” to “yeah, he’s underrated”.
What Clarkson can do isn’t exactly the most extensive or dynamic in the NBA, sure, but what he lacks in the ability to play killer defense or be a high-volume passer he makes up for with his higher-than-average true shooting percentage.
Clarkson isn’t a versatile player but what he does, he does very well and can and should be a top 100 player in the NBA. We knew that Clarkson had been left off the list a few times but across the biggest NBA publications in the world?
We didn’t see that coming, hopefully, ESPN and others can correct the issue.