The Minnesota Timberwolves have made back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances, largely in part because of their elite defense. The team needs Jaylen Clark to make a big impact on that end if they are to make it a three-peat. As it stands, though, Clark is withering away on the bench while his team desperately needs him.
The Timberwolves need to give Jaylen Clark more minutes
Rudy Gobert is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year who holds down the fort inside, and Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels are premier perimeter defenders. However, Minnesota’s defense took a big hit when Nickeil Alexander-Walker bolted for the Atlanta Hawks in the offseason.
A need at point guard has long been prevalent in Minnesota, but the Timberwolves also need more point-of-attack defensive help. While there isn’t a clear answer at the PG spot, Clark is the clear-cut answer when it comes to Minnesota reestablishing their defensive identity.
Clark tore his Achilles tendon at UCLA while in college, which forced him to miss his rookie year, but he burst onto the scene for the Timberwolves last year. Clark is far from an elite offensive weapon, as evidenced by his career 4.3 point-per-game mark, but he is the full package on defense.
The UCLA product is 6-foot-5, 205 pounds, so he has the size and length to guard one through four. He is fast enough to prevent players from attempting to drive past him, strong enough to ensure they can’t go through him, and athletic enough to deter shots at the rim.
The Timberwolves’ defense is good this season, but it hasn’t been as great as normal. Edwards has had to focus more on offense because of the team’s lack of point guard depth, and it is safe to say that Gobert has taken a step back when it comes to his defensive prowess. Clark should be getting minutes close to what Alexander-Walker received during his last season in Minnesota.
Alexander-Walker averaged 25.3 minutes per game last season while predominantly coming off the bench. Clark is only averaging 14.7 minutes per game, barely up from the 13.1 he received last season. Clark’s lack of offense will prevent him from playing starter minutes, but he is a capable 3-point shooter, considering he made 43.1% of his long balls last season, so he should be playing more. The numbers back that up, because Minnesota is 12-0 when Clark plays 14-plus minutes.
The NBA season is long and grueling, so it might not be sustainable to have such a large playing time discrepancy between the starters and the bench over the course of 82 games. Chris Finch needs to give Clark more of a chance. If given one, he can prove to be the next Alexander-Walker, and his defensive expertise could boost the Timberwolves to greater heights than they’ve even reached over the last two seasons.