What Jordan Clarkson is Incapable of Becoming
The Number One Option– You might think “well, yeah, that title belongs to Love.” Watch Jordan Clarkson play, though. He often acted like he was the number one option on the floor, both in LA and Cleveland. He’s a capable guard, with solid ballhandling skills, but his attacking style of play has only gotten him so far in his career.
Good defenders will keep him out of the paint and force him to dribble deep into the shot clock, which will likely result in disaster for a below average offense. He even said that he ran himself too hard and broke down last season. If he’s going all 82, he has to adapt his game and learn to work better within the offense.
A Stud on Defense– Clarkson isn’t a great defender by any means. That’s shown in many ways since entering the league. For one, his footwork leaves much to be desired. He’s incredibly vulnerable to quick change of direction, specifically crossovers, and gets beaten by even the most average of guards.
He’s also vulnerable on pick-and-rolls, apparently a huge part of today’s NBA. He fights hard but gets screened to death, and that leads to a lot of mismatches. Cleveland will have to find ways to shut down opposing guards when he’s on the court because, in this NBA, it’s near impossible to hide point guards on defense.
