Jaylen Clark: 2023 NBA Draft Scouting Report
A sensational college defender, can Clark cobble together enough offensive impact to make it in the NBA?
Just a few months ago, I was talking about Clark as the second-round steal of all second-round steals.
The offensive development he showed at the start of the season had me so excited for his future. Over the first 12 games of his season, Clark was averaging 15.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.7 steals while shooting 39.3% from 3-point range and 60% from the field overall. That wasn’t against just low-major competition during the non-conference schedule, either. He posted a 23 point, 10 rebound double-double against Baylor, a 19-6-3-4 steal game at Maryland, and 15-8-2-4 against Kentucky.
In those three games, he went 0-6 from 3-point range, though. Those performances foreshadowed a steep dropoff with his jumper, causing him to finish the season 29.4% from 3 over the final 18 games.
As you’ll see, the shooting is incredibly important for Clark. He has all the skills to be a sensational defender and has been impactful from a box score standpoint. He was 5th in the nation in steals per game and is impactful both on-ball and off-ball.
For Clark to capture his NBA potential as a defensive maestro, he’ll need to make some gains on the offensive end of the floor. His usage at UCLA as their fourth or sometimes fifth option won’t fly in the NBA, and at 6’5” he doesn’t quite have the size or tools to simply out-athlete his opponents to impact on that end.
Offense
When I go grocery shopping and use the self-checkout kiosk, an option pops on the screen asking me how many bags I’ll be using. When Jaylen goes to the local grocer, I would imagine he clicks zero. He’s got no bag whatsoever.
Shitty puns aside, Clark has nibbled on crumbs his whole career to squeak by a passable offensive impact. Put the ball in his hands and not much positive happens. He is slow off the dribble with a loose handle, a subpar passer and creator for others, and does not have anything resembling comfort in pull-up jump shot situations. UCLA coach Mick Cronin has used Clark on pre-catch movement a lot to get him involved in some sets and help him get downhill.
The lone move that Clark has in his arsenal off the dribble is a little spin-back hook shot to his right. He drives left nearly every time, then spins back to his right to finish. It’s predictable, though it does show a little bit of touch in his arsenal.
Clark has learned how to be a solid off-ball cutter. He sneaks along the baseline for backdoors, reacts to dribble penetration and post-ups well, and generally converts when he gets to the bucket. But at 6’5”, Clark is really grounded as a finisher. He had 57 attempts at the rim in the half-court and 0 dunks on the season. For a guy who isn’t a skilled creator or manipulator with the ball in his hands, it might be difficult to project him moving forward as a positive scorer on the interior.
If the first level of offense disappears and the second (mid-range pull-ups) are pretty much non-existent (6-22 on half-court pull-up jumpers this year), Clark quickly becomes a player whose offensive future is reliant on the catch-and-shoot game coming around.