After a rocky start to the regular season, Jordan Clarkson isn’t just settling into his role with the New York Knicks. He is playing the most efficient basketball of his career.
This is a wild thing to say about a 33-year-old in his 12th season. Especially when you consider the Knicks aren’t the first quality team for which he’s played. The Los Angeles Lakers weren’t any good during his tenure in Hollywood, but he closed the 2016-17 campaign on a Cleveland Cavaliers squad that made it to the Finals. And the Utah Jazz hovered around 50-win territory during his first two-and-a-half seasons representing the Beehive State.
Still, none of his previous three squads got from him what he’s giving New York now.
Jordan Clarkson has never been more efficient
Despite a rough patch to open the year, Clarkson is currently shooting a career-high on twos (57.1 percent) and threes (38.5 percent). His 69 percent clip around the basket would also be a personal best.
It isn’t just the efficiency, either. It’s the actual shots he’s taking.
Only 26 percent of his looks are coming from mid-range. That’s the lowest share of his career. Clarkson has replaced most of these mid-range looks with additional three-point volume. Around 53 percent of his shots come from beyond the arc, the second-largest share of his career, trailing only his 2020-21 campaign with the Jazz.
Not only that, but Clarkson’s rim frequency has increased by nearly 50 percent compared to last season. And the rate of his shots coming at the hoop is the highest it’s been in over a half-decade.
It turns out playing beside a floor-spacing big and a handful of on-ball creators with a ton of off-ball gravity is a good thing. Who knew?!?
The Knicks may not have to worry about Jordan Clarkson cooling off
The question, of course, is whether the Knicks can count on this version of Clarkson to last. He is notoriously streaky, as New York found out for itself at the beginning of this season. The expectation should never be for a 12-year veteran to completely reinvent himself.
Then again, Clarkson is assuming a role unlike any other one he’s held before.
Efficiency and impact are, in theory, easier to maintain when you’re not racking up as many minutes. Clarkson has that going for him. More than anything, though, the quality of his shots is dramatically improving.
Over 39 percent of his three-point attempts have come as spot-up opportunities. That is up from 23.6 percent last season, and is, by far, the highest mark of his career.
Even more critical, the Knicks’ increased ball movement and pristine spacing are catalysts for Clarkson slaying it inside the arc. He is able to catch-and-go at a quicker clip, and does his part to move without the ball. Half of his two-point buckets have come off an assist. That’s another milestone. He’s never had more than 37 percent of his twos set up by a teammate.
While New York should brace for some regression, Clarkson’s play isn’t necessarily a flash in the pan. The Knicks have not hesitated to play him alongside Jalen Brunson, someone with so much gravity that JC becomes an afterthought. Clarkson sees his three-point percentage climb by 18 percentage points in his time next to JB—minutes in which New York dominates, by the way.
The fact of the matter is, the Knicks are getting the best version of Clarkson we’ve ever seen. That’s a big deal. The bigger deal? They’re built for him to sustain it.
