How Jaylen Clark made the most of an unexpected opportunity with the Wolves

Six games ago, Clark wasn't expecting to play. Now he's a regular in Minnesota's rotation.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jaylen Clark gets into position against the Chicago Bulls during the fourth quarter at Target Center in Minneapolis on Feb. 5, 2025. / Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch had a good idea that he was going to play Jaylen Clark when they were short-handed against the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29, something Finch didn't make known to Clark before the game. Needless to say, when Finch called his number in the second quarter, Clark was taken by surprise getting his first meaningful minutes.

"I didn't think I was playing," Clark said. "I thought it was just like a routine sit, clap, go home type thing. It caught me off guard getting thrown in, for sure."

Clark may have been surprised, but he didn't look surprised when he took the court. Clark played 10 minutes that game and impressed defensively, so much so that within a week, he's already become a regular part of the rotation. And that's not likely to change, even when the Timberwolves get Julius Randle (groin) and Donte DiVincenzo (toe) back from injury.

It starts on the defensive end for Clark; that's his bread and butter. That's what Clark was known for when the Wolves selected him with the No. 53 overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NBA draft out of UCLA, as Clark was coming off a college season in which he was named the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year. In the last six games when Clark has played significant minutes, he's already been tasked with guarding some of the NBA's best scorers, and holding his own.

"I love (Clark). I love him," Anthony Edwards said after Monday's loss to the Sacramento Kings. "(Malik) Monk said ... 'Thank God y'all took that strong dude out. Who's that? He harrassing.' He's a menace out there on defense, that's for sure."

What really sets Clark apart, aside from his defense, from other young players is his ability to avoid making mistakes. He doesn't turn the ball over. He doesn't take bad shots. That's part of why Finch believes Clark has exceeded expecatations.

"A lot of rookie players go in there and they make mistakes, and they might make two mistakes and one or two good plays if they're lucky," Finch said. "But he just hasn't made mistakes. He hasn't tried to do a whole ton, and the first key to being a young player when you're earning your first minutes is to not hurt the team, so he's been above the norm there."

That's something Clark credits to playing under Mick Cronin at UCLA. Under Cronin, Clark had to play "non-mistake basketball" as a young player who was looking to see time on the court. He learned how to play without turning it over.

"It really helped prepare me when I hit that adversity my freshman year, and it’s translating now," Clark said.

While the offense was always more of a question mark for Clark, he's starting to do more than just not make mistakes. He put together his best game offensively in Thursday night's win over the Houston Rockets, scoring a career-high 17 points off the bench on 5-for-9 shooting, including making 4 for 6 from 3-point range. Clark takes time every night to work on his shot. But what really changed for Clark and created the development offensively was the time he spent in the G League.

"It just allowed me to play a role I never played before," Clark said of his time in Iowa. "I've never been able to go out there and chuck shots to that extent."

He was also the beneficiary of having his cousin, Kelly McCarty, as an assistant coach with the Iowa Wolves. As Clark put it, McCarty wasn't worried about his feelings. "If I'm BSing, he's gonna tell me I'm BSing," Clark said. McCarty was also a good scorer himself in college, leading Southern Mississippi in scoring. McCarty was able to lend his point of view to what he saw from Clark, which helped elevate his game. Clark's averaged 13.5 points per game in 20 games in Iowa this year.

"Offensively, (Clark has) been active, he's confident," Finch said before Wednesday's game against the Chicago Bulls. "He has like an irrational confidence in his offense, which I like."

Clark is living up to his reputation as a lockdown defender, he's playing mistake-free basketball and he's beginning to show he can be an asset offensively, too. That's earned him Finch's trust in short order, and Finch even said after the Bulls game Clark has earned minutes in the rotation. It all started with a game in Phoenix when Clark didn't think he'd even play.

"It's surreal," Clark said. "It shows how fast everything can go, like the opportunities come and you got to take full advantage of it because if I wasn't ready in the Phoenix game, I'm probably back in Iowa right now. Just keeping it a buck. It's just showing like how everyone says say ready for when the time is coming, it's kind of cliche, but it's really true."