It has taken fewer than 10 games for the New York Knicks to learn an important Jordan Clarkson lesson: This is a guy who will fluctuate between seemingly unplayable and essential, between hero and scapegoat and self-saboteur. He is absolutely going to be the reason they win games, and among the primary catalysts behind them losing others.
Put another way: In basically no time at all, Jordan Clarkson has treated, if not exposed, the Knicks and their fans to the full breadth of the Jordan Clarkson experience—the good and bad, ugly and uglier, better and best, confusing and clarifying.
The streakiness is the point. Inconsistency is part and parcel of most minimum signings, but Clarkson’s brand of on-ball derring do lends itself to more turbulent swings. The Utah Jazz and their fans know this well. Ditto for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And for the Los Angeles Lakers, his first team.
Across 12 seasons, Clarkson has not changed. He’s made minor tweaks and improvements, including as a playmaker while in Utah. But the crux of his game has and will always be subject to his peaks and valleys.
The Knicks are getting a crash course in the Jordan Clarkson experience
Clarkson has wasted little time in running through the full spectrum of performances. Just look at his shooting percentage through each of the Knicks’ first seven games:
- Game No. 1: 28.6 percent
- Game No 2: 40.0 percent
- Game No. 3: 18.2 percent
- Game No. 4: 57.1 percent
- Game No. 5: 25.0 percent
- Game No. 6: 54.5 percent
- Game No. 7: 62.5 percent
There is often little rhyme, reason or pattern to Clarkson’s results. He looked unplayable while going 2-of-11 from the floor in a loss to the Miami Heat. He was excellent against the Washington Wizards, including on the defensive end. Yes, that defensive end. Washington as a team scored just 0.47 points per possession whenever Clarkson guarded one of Tre Johnson, Corey Kispert, Justin Champagnie, Bilal Coulibaly, or Bub Carrington.
Meanwhile, in the Knicks’ Sunday evening victory over the Chicago Bulls, Clarkson shot 6-of-11 from the floor…and was still a net-minus overall. He is now shooting 50 percent on heavily contested twos, but just 60 percent at the rim (28th percentile). New York’s offense is faring worse with him in the game, but the defense improves with him on the floor.
The list of oddities, of contradictions, goes on. And on. And they’re not going anywhere.
New York shouldn’t expect Clarkson to change
This is what the Knicks signed up for when they answered Clarkson’s call over the summer. There will be nights when they live by his hand. And then, there will be nights when they die from it.
Without question, this is an uncomfortable spot to be. Between injuries and the absence of a reliable backup floor general, New York is more beholden to Clarkson than it likely anticipated.
Them’s the breaks, though. If the Knicks wanted it any other way, they should have taken a different approach to fleshing out their depth. They didn’t. Or they couldn’t.
Whichever one it was doesn’t matter. Clarkson is here now, and he matters. For now, it’s working out. It hasn’t always been pretty, but they’ve won the minutes with him on the floor. The shot creation he brings puts pressure on defenses —even when said looks don’t go in.
Of course, we could be singing a different tune in a few weeks. Or days. Such is the Jordan Clarkson experience, for better or bare: forever unpredictable, never boring.