Earl Clark: The 2nd Time Around

Some players find it hard to make a name for themselves surrounded by stars. A team with Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant on it can be intimidating. But not for Earl Clark. The former University of Louisville forward had the best year of his career in 2012-13. He played the most minutes (23) in his six year career. He had the highest field goal percentage (44%) of his career and averaged the most rebounds (6). He had a dominant performance in the regular season against the San Antonio Spurs, 22 points and 13 rebounds

Earl Clark liked being in Los Angeles and playing for the Lakers and the affection was mutual. But he was an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and the Cleveland Cavaliers offered him the most money so he left. But in Cleveland, he could not duplicate his offensive success. He shot 37% and was surrounded by inconsistency and young players. Clark only lasted in Cleveland half a season before they waived him. The Knicks swooped in and signed him to a series of 10 day contracts. Since then he has been playing in the D-league.

The Lakers have a history of utilizing players who were thrown in to make trades work. In 2008, Trevor Ariza was traded for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans. It was a trade to save money and allow the team to trade for Paul Gasol. All Tervor Ariza did was help the Lakers get to two NBA Finals in a row.

Earl Clark was part of the Dwight Howard trade, added to make the numbers work. Seeing an opportunity for himself, and not intimidated by Kobe Bryant on the court, Clark asserted himself and brought production, effort and consistency to a struggling team.

The Lakers are hopeful history repeats itself. Earl Clark is a low rent player who has specific skills. He has a nice touch with the basketball, likes to rebound, has toughness and more importantly understands how simple the game can be when Kobe is on one side of the floor. He’s not a reluctant scorer and his defense is above average. He can play either the small forward or the power forward.

To make the deal work the Lakers have to cut Xavier Henry who will be out at least 8-12 months trying to recover from his Achilles injury. More than likely, Xavier will sign with a D-league team first to show NBA teams he still has a viable NBA game left. But that is a long way down the road, sometime in 2015 or 2016.

The Lakers front court- to no one’s surprise- is miserable. Wesley Johnson is not a scorer and doesn’t pretend to be one. Ed Davis is helpless five feet away from the rim. That leaves Jordan Hill and Carlos Boozer to pick up the slack and neither one of them are explosive or athletic. Both have to work hard to get results when guarded by more talented players.

Earl Clark instantly boosts the production of the front line (if he regains his shooting form). In 2012-13 he took full advantage of being on the floor with Kobe and making open shots. His presence in the rotation will probably impact Boozer the most. For this year, Earl Clark is taking Julius Randle’s place. The contract is fully guaranteed for the rest of the season.

In the D-league, Earl Clark was averaging 29 points with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.