Since he's only a 53rd overall pick in the draft and the Wolves are having a great season, their best since 2004, we forgot that Jaylen Clark had not played this year. The UCLA player had ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2023. If he had maintained his presence in the 2023 Draft, he spent the season in the infirmary.
Now he is back, recently cleared to play again and his debut will be at the Summer League in Las Vegas. “It's a blessing. I'm ready to go to Vegas and it feels good to be back.”, he explained after his first practice before the summer league.
For him, it will be a matter of finding his sensations and getting a taste of the NBA game before jumping into the deep end at the start of the school year. With one quality that has already been announced: defending. ” 100% “Jaylen Clark delivers on the importance of defense to make it to the Big League.
Making your place with the defense
With UCLA, the former teammate of Jaime Jaquez Jr. established himself as one of the best defenders in the NCAA in 2022/23 and believes he can demonstrate this during the Summer League, defending in all positions despite his 1m96. “It will depend on the size of the big ones,” he specifies. “But I want to become one of the best defenders in my class again. I can defend against players bigger than me and I've improved my shooting.”
This will be a perfect quality to scratch playing time with the big boys, at the Wolves. Already because Chris Finch's men finished with the best defense in the league last season, but also because defending is the best way to scratch minutes alongside Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and company.
“I learned a lot of things. I learned how to get into the system,” Jaylen Clark confides in his blank season. “When I look at our group, it doesn't need more points: you have Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid, or Jaden McDaniels, when he puts it in. I have to find a role that fits me. If I defend at a high level, get rebounds and make shots, then I could get minutes. And if I get playing time, I'll have a bigger role.”
