In Jordan Clarkson We Trust

By Guest Writer
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Updated: January 22, 2015

The Washington Wizards drafted Jordan Clarkson in the 2nd round of the NBA Draft with the 46th pick. He was later dealt to the Lakers in a trade the same night.

It was a good pickup for the Lakers. He’s a 6”5 athletic point guard with great size for the NBA, agility and blow by speed. Athletic point guard, you hear that? The Lakers haven’t had one of those in a long time. No, Ramon Sessions doesn’t count either.

Clarkson averaged 14.2 points over his two-year tenure at Tulsa University and 17.5 points during his one year at Missouri.

During his freshman year at Tulsa he averaged 11.5 points. He followed up his sophomore year averaging a career high 16.5 points. Clarkson has steadily showed improvement each year he’s given minutes to get on the court and develop.

If that wasn’t enough, during Clarkson’s junior year, which he played at Missouri after transferring and sitting out a year, he continued to improve averaging 17.5 points. Clarkson minutes increased from his freshman year to junior year and he took advantage of it while he could. He improved in every aspects of his game.

Just to give you some examples, Clarkson’s scoring, free throw percentage, assist, steals, and field goal percentage all took a jump. As I said before, Jordan Clarkson has proven to steadily improve his game when he gets the minutes on the court and time to develop.

Going into the Summer League this year he played with a chip on his shoulder. He believed he was slighted and that in his opinion, he was one of the better point guards in this year’s draft. For the moment, he proved just that. Not only did he catch eyes with his impressive ability to get to the basket, but he outperformed the top ten picks in his draft class. Clarkson showed he was ready to take that next step quicker than any of the other rookies for those two weeks. Granted it was the Summer League. Take in consideration that a handful of the players playing in the summer league have played in the association before.

When Jordan Clarkson has played this season he’s fared like a rookie. Not surprising that he isn’t making a major impact. Clarkson is averaging 12 minutes a game. He’s looking at three minutes a quarter. Keep in mind he goes many games without playing until he’s slotted in randomly out of the blue. How is Jordan Clarkson ever supposed to get into a rhythm? Let alone improve and adjust to the NBA life with that type of playing time.

What is interesting about Clarkson, is when he gets his chance, and plays at least 10 minutes a game this season, he’s averaging three free throws a game. In ten minutes, can you believe that? Can you imagine what starter minutes would look like? Clarkson could create havoc by getting to the line and causing foul trouble on the opposing team with starter minutes. This young point guard could get more into a rhythm with the appropriate minutes on the court.

There’s potential in Jordan Clarkson. He’s shown the ability to improve every year since reaching the NBA has to count towards something. His collegiate career, and summer league play have to also count towards his ability to perform, if not keep up with most players. His size, speed and agility will definitely create matchup problems for smaller, slower point guards and also give him the ability to play off them. His speed alone is already better than most point guards in the NBA.

Clarkson already has highlights this year showcasing that athletic ability with put back jams, or quick and swift drives to the basket. He can also utilize his length and size to guard shooting guards. Clarkson needs his chance. What else is there to look forward too this season?

The Los Angeles Lakers season was over by the end of December when they posted a 10-22 record. The case can be made that it was over before it even started with the depleted roster the Laker organization provided. Heck, the Oklahoma City Thunder got Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook back at full strength after injuries plagued the duo, and they are still struggling to grasp the final playoff berth. What are our chances? Lets be realistic here and throw in the white towel.

This season isn’t going anywhere and it should give the Lakers even more of a reason to start Clarkson. The notion to start and give Jeremy Lin and Ronnie Price more minutes than Clarkson is upsetting. We can still seize what’s left of the season and audition Clarkson to see if he could be a long-term point guard for us.

How do you feel about Jordan Clarkson? Do you think he should be starting already and getting this in-game experience while we’re already at a loss?

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