Jordan Clarkson’s NBA Finals spark should put Rockets on offseason alert

The Spurs and Knicks are locked in a heated Finals matchup. The Knicks fell just short in a critical Game 3, but they are still up 2-1 in the series. It has been a defensively intense series, with Game 3 being the first game in which either team scored more than 105 points.

However, in Game 3, New York had a sparkplug off the bench who helped give them some instant offense: Jordan Clarkson.

Jordan Clarkson is an offensive sparkplug

Clarkson has a small role on this Knicks team. He is a defensively limited guard who is also a below-average playmaker. He is, however, a true microwave scorer. We saw that ability in Game 3. Clarkson scored 10 points in 13 minutes and was a +8 on the night. He is also a former Sixth Man of the Year winner and 20-point-per-game scorer.

That makes him the type of player the Houston Rockets should be monitoring this offseason. He will likely be a minimum-contract-level target, but he could give this offense-starved Rockets team an instant-offense option to turn to.

Houston needs a source of instant offense

In the playoffs, Houston’s offense was exposed in the worst way possible. The Rockets failed to score 100 points four times in their six-game first-round series. That came against the Los Angeles Lakers, the 20th-ranked defensive team in the regular season.

In the Rockets’ defense, Kevin Durant only played one game in the series and Fred VanVleet missed the entire year. However, those veterans are entering their age-38 and age-33 seasons, respectively.

There will be games during the marathon that is the NBA season when one or both of those veteran playmakers need to sit because of rest or injury. Houston will need other offensive options in those games. That is where a player like Clarkson could add value.

He is a low-cost professional bucket getter. He also has big-game experience and has played smaller roles on contenders before. Clarkson would not solve all of Houston’s offensive problems, but he could give Ime Udoka a trustworthy scorer off the bench.

It remains to be seen if he will leave New York after this historic run, but Houston should be ready if he does. The Rockets just need Clarkson to be Clarkson: a professional scorer who can keep the offense alive when their stars sit.

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