You should never read too much into the preseason. For some players, though, those tune-ups before the regular season play a huge role in determining how much they see the floor once the games begin to count.
For the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jaylen Clark is one of those guys. His defense is certainly playable. He doesn’t provide enough juice on offense to utilize him often, though, especially in the postseason.
Now it’s only been two preseason games. Still, Clark hasn’t shown enough yet to ensure he will be in Minnesota’s regular season rotation.
Jaylen Clark is scoreless in preseason
With the Timberwolves starting 1-1 in the preseason, Clark hasn’t played much. His 20 total minutes in the two outings are only the 12th most on the team.
Turning 25 on October 13, Clark is off to an inauspicious start. That’s exactly what he didn’t need. For someone like Anthony Edwards, a slow start wouldn’t be concerning. It’s much more so for someone like Clark, who isn’t a guaranteed rotational piece.
He needs to use the preseason to show something on offense. Instead, he’s basically been invisible on that end in the first two games.
In about 10.5 minutes of game action in Wednesday’s loss against the Indiana Pacers, Clark didn’t even attempt a shot (and was a -16).
Some fans may have turned the game off at halftime on Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks once they realized the starters wouldn’t return for the second half. If so, they didn’t even see Clark, since he wasn’t one of the 10 players who played for Minnesota in the first half of their preseason opener.
Clark missed a wide-open 3-pointer after a nice pump fake to free himself of his defender in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he drove for a floater off the glass but came up short.
So, in two preseason games, Clark is 0-for-2 with zero points. Not exactly the start he wanted. His lack of offense is largely why he’s only appeared in 11 of Minnesota’s 27 playoff games over the last two years, and much of his playing time has come in garbage time.
Tim Connelly smartly brought Clark back early in the offseason, re-signing the 6-foot-5 wing to an inexpensive three-year deal for $10 million. He brings enough on the defensive end that keeping him on the squad was a wise investment.
Minnesota still has three more preseason games where Clark can hopefully do more. Until he shows more ability to put the ball in the basket, though, he probably won’t be used as more than a depth piece.
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