Jaylen Clark's flaw is causing him to get less playing time

Jaylen Clark has seen his playing time decrease quite a bit over the last three games. The 24-year-old has played just 21 total minutes in that period, with a single-digit minute total in all three outings. That is after Clark averaged 17.1 minutes in his first 13 appearances.

On Friday, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch expanded on why Clark hasn’t been seeing as much action of late.

Jaylen Clark's minutes have decreased recently

Timberwolves beat reporter Britt Robson asked Finch on Friday if Clark’s decreased playing time is more due to fit or performance. Finch’s response is seen here as he says that it's more due to performance and also brings up his propensity to commit fouls.

“I don’t think it’s fit, no, I think it’s more performance, you know, consistency, Finch said. I would say it’s more defense, fouling unnecessary fouling, I think it’s containing and winning his matchups, those types of things. He’ll be fine.”

Many questioned why Clark, an excellent defender, wasn’t in on the last play when Collin Gillespie hit the game-winner in their blown loss against the Suns on November 21. 

Well, Clark was in at the end of another blown loss, this time to the Kings on November 24. With 20 seconds remaining in overtime and Minnesota down one, Clark fouled DeMar DeRozan before Sacramento’s pass was inbounded. DeRozan made the free throw that comes with that type of foul, and then made another two once he was fouled again. That gave the Kings a two-possession lead.

Clark fouls more frequently than any other Timberwolves player

There’s no denying that Clark is a dog on the defensive end. There's a reason why he was the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in his last collegiate season with UCLA in 2022-23. Nobody’s life is made easy when the 6-foot-5 wing is hounding an offensive player, but it can sometimes lead to fouls accumulating.

Thus far on the season, Clark is averaging 2.1 fouls while playing 15.3 minutes per contest. That equates to 4.9 fouls per 36 minutes. Out of the 11 players that have played at least 100 minutes for the Timberwolves, that is the highest mark on the team (Terrence Shannon Jr. has the second-most at 4.5 per 36).

Will Clark continue to see less playing time as the season moves forward? If Terrence Shannon Jr. can have more outings such as the one he had on Wednesday against the Thunder (18 points in 17 minutes), it may become even harder for Clark to reach the minutes he previously was receiving.

It will be interesting to see how much time he gets on Saturday when the Timberwolves play host to the Celtics.