3 reasons why Timberwolves rookie Jaylen Clark is worth the wait

With the 53rd pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Jaylen Clark, guard, from UCLA.  Jaylen Clark is/was the best defensive player on the board in the draft, but fell due to the medical concerns and current rehab of an Achilles Tendon injury. In fact, before the injury, many NBA teams including the Minnesota Timberwolves had a lottery grade on Clark.

That often results in a very good but stacked team taking a chance on a fallen future NBA star. After all, NBA teams that are perennial NBA Playoffs participants have what they need on the roster today, and can be patient with rehabbing a young basketball player whose upside realistically is a contributor who can help that team maintain their postseason performances.

This Timberwolves roster needs wing defenders

Jaylen Clark is exactly the type of player who the Denver Nuggets would have chosen, at least when Tim Connelly was their President of Basketball Operations. Connelly still has that title, and that fine eye for NBA Draft gems, but he is using that talent to fill the Minnesota Timberwolves roster now. And so, he is what he said about his two rookie selections of the 2023 NBA Draft:

But what is the long answer? Why did the Timberwolves add another guard to the roster, particularly one that is currently ‘7-8 months away’ from being fully ready to compete on a basketball court?

There are good reasons for doing so. And yet, they may not be as obvious to everyone. So . . . Let’s discuss some reasons why he was the right choice, right now . . .

Reason III: He has a #DAWG mindset

If you want to build a winning team, add players who have a winning attitude. It sounds so easy to do, and yet the impact of having that #DAWG mindset on the roster is more than just lip service. So what exactly is a #DAWG mindset? It’s an anacronym made up of the first letters of words that define a winner in competitive sports:

• D – Discipline: Strict training that strengthens moral character
• A – Attitude: Personal views that are reflected in action
• W – Work Ethic: Belief that hard work leads to virtuous rewards
• G – Grit: Unyielding courage in the face of adversity, danger, or hardship

It’s a set of principles that requires a strong belief in delayed gratification. Values that hard work and training today lead to better things tomorrow. When you can find that type of player, one who has the ability to change the outcome of the game by sheer force of will, you do whatever it takes to add that player to the roster.

Jaylen Clark is no victim

Jaylen Clark will never complain about the Timberwolves holding him back. That is huge because it cuts to the very soul of Clark, and what makes him such a special addition to the Timberwolves team.

If you add players who work hard, you create a winning culture that spreads and infects everyone. After all, the very nature of competitiveness is to constantly be in the position of improving, whether to be a better version of oneself or simply to be the best on the team or even the best in the sport.

Clark is not the type of player who will lick his wounds. He won’t be a player who, if things do not work out with the Timberwolves, will blame the Wolves for holding him back.

Reason II: Defense is his ‘thing’

It’s pretty easy to find a young basketball player who can score. It’s far less common to find a young basketball player who can play shutdown defense. And yet, that is the quality that jumps out at you when you look at games played by Jalen Clark.

Some young basketball players learn how to score, put points on the scoreboard, and use that as their ticket to be signed into the exclusive world of the NBA. But in the process of doing so, they often fail to develop the basic fundamental skills needed to play defense in the NBA. If not corrected, quickly, that player is limited in playing time and game scenarios.

Defense is classic NBA play

But defense never goes out of style. It’s the universal glue that keeps basketball players on the court, not off the court. That’s the reason why young defensive rookies are so valuable. They are in high demand, and in short supply. So a delay of several months is not going to derail this Timberwolves team from adding a pesky defender to the roster.

Still, Jaylen Clark is more than a nuisance, he stymies his opponent and loves doing so. That’s because he is not doing his coach’s bidding. He embraces the role and understands just how important a strong defender can be for the overall success of the basketball team.

Reason I: He is the best defensive player in the rookie class of 2023

It’s one thing to tackle the less glitzy and glamorous task of playing defense, but it’s another matter altogether of playing Jaylen Clark’s level of defense. That is a cornerstone for any NBA Playoff team, but perhaps it adds a bit of extra spice to the Minnesota Timberwolves roster.

The reason for that is the fact that the High Wall defensive strategy employed by the Minnesota Vikings is vulnerable to teams that can score from the perimeter. Teams like the Golden State Warriors, who can launch long-range artillery all day against the Timberwolves, are tough to neutralize because, quite frankly, the Timberwolves simply did not have enough wing defenders.

That has been changing recently:

‘Best perimeter defender in the draft,’ is high praise indeed. But when it is stated by Timberwolves POBO Tim Connelly, it carries quite the endorsement.

Timberwolves Top Defensive team?

With Clark on the Timberwolves roster, suddenly the team has the chance to be an NBA Top-5 defense. Just look at the defensive specialists: Center Rudy Gobert, forward Kyle Anderson, forward Jaden McDaniels, guard Anthony Edwards, wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker (if re-signed), wing Wendell Moore Jr. and guard Mike Conley Jr. all have a dominant defensive presence on the basketball court.

Adding Jaylen Clark to the mix continues to upgrade the Timberwolves’ roster in areas where the team was weak just one year ago.

No, Jaylen Clark does not walk on water. Nor will he step foot onto the basketball court until the 2024-24 NBA season. But that does not diminish just how integral he could become on this Timberwolves roster. Yes, he was selected with the 53rd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Current Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by, you guessed it, Denver Nuggets President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly.

Before the draft, we asked if Connelly had a future NBA MVP in his draft sights. Well, we believe that Clark, after healing and rehabbing, has the makings of someone who could be in the discussion for the NBA All-Defense team in the future. That is pretty good for a late second-round selection.