Combo guard Jordan Clarkson projects as a bit of a wild card for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his next development should involve playing off the ball more.
Clarkson is a talented bench scorer, and his play will likely be crucial in whether or not the Cleveland Cavaliers win or lose games. He’s a guy that needs the ball in his hands a lot to have a tangible impact on a game, which is often the case with other NBA guards. With that being the case, though, he can be really up and down.
Clarkson is not exactly the epitome of playing within oneself in relation to helping a team win games. He’s going to be uber-aggressive with trying to get himself scoring opportunities. That’s how he’s wired, and beginning his NBA career exposed to the ultimate volume shooter in Kobe Bryant probably didn’t help Clarkson get more unselfish.
Nonetheless, with the way Cleveland is heading, and with Collin Sexton potentially leading the Cavs’ second unit, Clarkson will need to swallow his pride and concede some of the ball. Clarkson is a two-guard by trade, and with him and Sexton potentially on the court at the same time, something would have to give.
If he’s going to warrant considerable playing time over a low-maintenance player such as David Nwaba that provides a more all-around skillset, that’ll especially be the case. Nwaba has defensive versatility that Clarkson simply doesn’t come close to having, and he’s also predominantly a two-guard, considering a downfall of his is he’s only 6-foot-4 and can’t feasibly play point guard.
Both players have their flaws, as Nwaba is mostly a non-perimeter shooting threat, based on lack of volume and efficiency, and Clarkson has not really seen a contested shot he didn’t like. He killed the Cavs in the postseason with his less-than-ideal shot selection and lack of marksmanship.
Clarkson shot 30.1 percent from the field in the playoffs, and had an offensive box plus-minus of minus-8.1, per Basketball Reference. For the last few months of the regular season last year, though, he was more effective, particularly at spotting up. He shot 40.7 percent from three-point range in 28 games post All-Star break.
Was that due to LeBron James‘ playmaking? Probably, but Clarkson did show improvements in catch-and-shoot situations last year overall. On 2.5 attempts per game, he shot 38.4 percent on catch-and-shoot triples, per NBA.com. Maybe Kyle Korver‘s shooting mechanics could pay off in the case with Clarkson’s jumper (as they have for Osman), too.
If Clarkson can be content taking and making more of these shots as opposed to being mostly an isolation player, it would enable the Cavs to have more spacing for Sexton or potentially George Hill to operate in the pick-and-roll with Tristan Thompson and others. Unless his passing vision and perimeter defense drastically improve overnight, Clarkson will be on the floor to put the ball in the basket.
If he can add more of a willingness to allow others to run the Cleveland offense, it could pay dividends for his own growth, and it could help Cleveland’s case for him being a potential trade piece to clear more cap space and/or accumulate draft assets going into next summer.