Golden State Warriors: Was Losing Ian Clark a Mistake?

After a surprise showcase with the Golden State Warriors and winning the Summer League MVP, guard Ian Clark signed a two-year deal with the Utah Jazz.

As with most teams, summer league is seen as a period of experimentation. It’s used to help draftees and other younger players on the roster work on parts of their game that need improvement.

The Warriors went into summer league with their eyes on Kent Bazemore, Draymond Green and Nemanja Nedovic, but no one expected Clark to burst onto the scene and leave a mark at the final game. The undrafted rookie led the Warriors to the inaugural summer league championship over the Phoenix Suns with 33 points.

Now with summer league over, Clark’s next step in signing with Utah was a solid one. He’ll have a big opportunity to compete with the young backcourt for minutes there.

But did the Warriors make a mistake in not keeping him on the team?

Clark is a 6-foot-3 combo guard that proved himself as a great shooter who can also get to the rim and held his own on the defensive end as well. There’s also a hole in the backcourt that Jarrett Jack left behind when he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Though the team recently signed Toney Douglas, the only solid point guard option on the team is Stephen Curry. When he needs rest, or in worst case if he gets injured, they don’t have anyone at the moment who can take point guard duties if need be.

Though Clark’s assists average wasn’t high, he proved he can handle the ball when required. It’s also difficult to get a high number of assists in summer league when you average 21.5 minutes a game and are also surrounded by summer league talent, which don’t score as well as NBA players, obviously.

Playing alongside Curry, Klay Thompson, David Lee and the other capable scorers on the team would have definitely made life as a combo guard easier for Clark, especially on a team that highly values outside shooting which took them as far as they went in the playoffs.

They filled other spots well with Andre Iguodala, Jermaine O’Neal and Marreese Speights, but still haven’t address the void that was left behind by Jack, who was a huge help in the playoffs as well.

Time will tell if Clark actually has what it takes to make in the NBA, but no training camp invite at least from Golden State? It looks like the Warriors slipped up on a potential diamond, or a steady NBA-caliber player at least, in the rough.