ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic have extended a qualifying offer to forward Gary Clark, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed. By extending a qualifying offer to Clark, he now becomes a restricted free agent.
Clark (6’6”, 225, 11/16/94) played in 42 games (five starts) last season with both Houston and Orlando, averaging 3.7 ppg. and 2.6 rpg. in 13.5 minpg. He signed his first 10-day contract with the Magic on Jan. 14, then his second 10-day contract on Jan. 29, before signing for the remainder of the regular season on Feb. 8. In 24 regular season games (five starts) with the Magic, Clark averaged 3.6 ppg. and 2.9 rpg. in 14.8 minpg. He scored in double figures five times (three times with Orlando), including a career-high 15 points on Aug. 9 @ Boston. Clark also played and started in all five playoff outings, averaging 7.4 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 1.4 apg. and 1.00 stlpg. in 28.7 minpg. He scored a career playoff-high 15 points in Game #1 on Aug. 18 @ Milwaukee.
Undrafted by an NBA franchise, Clark has appeared in 93 career NBA regular season games (seven starts) with Houston and Orlando, averaging 3.3 ppg. and 2.4 rpg. in 13.0 minpg. He has played in seven career playoff outings (five starts), averaging 5.3 ppg., 4.1 rpg. and 1.0 apg. in 21.1 minpg. Clark has also appeared and started in 11 career NBA G League games with Rio Grande Valley, averaging 14.9 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 2.6 apg., 1.55 stlpg. and 1.00 blkpg. in 32.6 minpg.
Clark appeared in 139 career games (137 starts) during four seasons at the University of Cincinnati (2014-18), averaging 10.5 ppg., 8.1 rpg., 2.0 apg., 1.29 blkpg. and 1.17 stlpg. in 28.8 minpg., while shooting .525 (542-1,033) from the floor and .383 (54-141) from three-point range. As a senior (2017-18), he averaged 12.9 ppg., 8.7 rpg., 2.1 apg., 1.42 stlpg. and 1.22 blkpg. in 28.5 minpg. Clark was named the 2017-18 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and was a two-time American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year (2016-17, 2017-18).