Lakers Rumors: New York Knicks Interested In Jordan Clarkson
By Eric Yee
Lakers’ restricted free agent, Jordan Clarkson is starting to draw interest on the market with the New York Knicks reportedly wanting to pursue him this summer
Only a day removed from Knicks’ President of Basketball Operations, Phil Jackson commenting on the Lakers, specifically revealing that he told them they’d “be sorry” if they passed on Kristaps Porzingis, the team is now reportedly interested in acquiring junior guard, Jordan Clarkson.
This was to be expected, as Clarkson is a restricted free agent, and even more so when you consider his impressive rookie season and the progress he made last year.
Per RealGM, Knicks’ general manager, Steve Mills made the comment that their front court is relatively set with Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis and Robin Lopez in the mix, but they are desperately lacking any back court presence.
“It’s clear we need a lead guard, someone that can really carry the load, day in and day out. That’s something that I think is one of our biggest needs.”
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Losing Clarkson would be a huge hit to the Lakers ongoing rebuild, as the chemistry he has built with Julius Randle, and best friend, D’Angelo Russell, will be an invaluable asset moving forward.
Unlike the Purple and Gold the Knicks won’t have upwards of $60 million to spend wherever they please, as they’ll likely have closer to $18 million. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see whether or not they truly think Clarkson is worth a large chunk of that money as his confusing contract could explode to double digit millions a year down the line.
Clarkson has gone on the record to say that he wants to stay in LA and attempt to help get the team back to their glory days, but at the end of the day, the decision rests with the Lakers’ front office as they can match any offer he receives this offseason.
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All signs point to the Lakers doing just that, so it seems unreasonable to fret about losing him at this point in time.