Just about a year ago, rumors were flying all over the place that Australian guard Dante Exum was going to attempt to force his way to Los Angeles. Lakers fans couldn’t have been more excited as Exum showed potential of being an elite point guard in this league. In a draft dominated by college freshman (i.e. Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Aaron Gordon etc.), Exum was right up there near the top of the best prospects.
Exum, however, was not the only point guard that NBA GM’s were drooling over. Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton were also considered top 15 prospects, and rounded out the top three at the point guard position. Both of these point guards, along with Exum, were so hyped because of their athletic abilities, and NBA bodies. Dante Exum is listed at a whopping 6’6”, Marcus Smart at 6’3” and a scary 227 pounds, and Elfrid Payton at 6’4”.
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All three of these point guards ended up getting drafted in the top ten, and only two more were selected in the first round (Tyler Ennis and Shabazz Napier).
Most people slept on the Lakers second round pick which was acquired from the Washington Wizards. All of the attention was focused on the Lakers highest draft pick since James Worthy, Julius Randle. But, in the second round, the Lakers selected the 22-year old point guard out of Missouri, Jordan Clarkson. All of a sudden, Lakers fans were raving about Clarkson’s athletic abilities, and were hoping for him to be the steal of the draft. So far, this season, that might be the case.
These are Clarkson’s college stats from his last year compared to the elite point guards in his draft class. (Exum played in neither college or a professional league overseas). Although Clarkson’s stats might not be as good as those of Smart and Payton, there is no doubt that his numbers were worthy of first round consideration given his size and athleticism. Clarkson is 6’5″, and recorded a vertical leap of 38.5, higher than Exum, Smart, and Payton.
So, how did Clarkson fall all they way to the Lakers at 46th overall? After lighting it up for a majority of the season, Clarkson failed to score more than 15 points in each of his last seven games. His worst game came on a huge stage against an elite Florida Gator team in the conference tournament where Clarkson played all but one minute and scored only 11 points on 5-13 shooting. If not for that last stretch, Clarkson definitely would have been in consideration as a top twenty prospect. Clarkson’s best game of the season happened to come against Kentucky, when he put up 28 points on 11-17 shooting.
There were a few knocks on Clarkson’s game heading into the draft. One, was that Clarkson was already 22 years old, which wouldn’t matter, say fifteen years ago, but now it’s all about YOUNG talent. Exum was only 18 years old when he was drafted, which was a big reason why he was considered a top three prospect. Another issue was that Clarkson, like the other elite point guards in the draft, wasn’t a consistent shooter.
Daniel O’Brien of BleacherReport.com put it perfectly:
"If Clarkson wants to be a proficient, legitimate combo guard and avoid being inept at either guard spot, he needs to upgrade two areas: outside shooting and turnovers."
I can see why Exum and Smart were heavily favored over Clarkson, but Payton just didn’t make sense. Payton had the worst jumper of all, and played against poor competition. Clarkson showed against Kentucky that he could play at an elite level, against elite competition.
More than half way through the season, I can confidently say that the Lakers got the best point guard in the draft. Clarkson’s much improved jump-shot has put him to the top of the rookie point guard list. Clarkson is currently shooting 34.77% from shots outside of ten feet. Marcus Smart is a tad higher at 34.8%, while Payton is at 30% and Exum is at an atrocious 18.83%.
Clarkson also dominates the more advanced statistics. Clarkson posts the highest PER of any rookie point guard, and is third overall among all rookies. Clarkson and Smart are tied for first among the four elite rookie point guards (along with Payton and Exum), in offensive winshares at 0.5
Since the start of the calender year of 2015, Clarkson’s 11.1 points tops all other point guards except Langston Galloway. Langston Galloway, the young guard out of Saint Joseph, has appeared in 18 games, and has been playing well for the New York Knicks. However, Galloway only shoots 37.9% from the field and scores a huge amount of his points in garbage time.
Clarkson came into the NBA draft just like the other elite point guard prospects. A poor shooter with great athletic abilities. Some Laker fans would love to draft Emmanuel Mudiay but I’d rather draft a big like Karl Towns Jr. and let Clarkson develop into a special point guard in this league.
Ten months ago, I would have been a bit doubtful if someone were to tell me that the Lakers would get the best player at a position in the second round, in the stacked 2014 NBA draft. It is a bit early to tell, but Clarkson is looking like he could end up being the best point guard in a legendary draft class.