Honorable Mention
Once again, this is just my personal list. Opinions and experiences may differ. But here are the players who just missed the cut.
Jordan Clarkson
Jordan Clarkson is on the wrong side of an NBA 2K injustice. I believe his rating should’ve been in the low 80’s, rather than mid 70’s, but that’s just me.
The problem here with Clarkson is what I like to call “overcrowding”. As I mentioned earlier, this Lakers team isn’t the most talented but it’s definitely fun. With so many toys on this team, Clarkson falls victim to being too fundamentally good. Clarkson is a simple, yet productive player.
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In real life, Clarkson is a valued member of this Lakers youth movement. However, in 2K17, Clarkson is average. Without the flashiness of D’Angelo Russell or silky smoothness of Brandon Ingram, Clarkson goes unnoticed more than not.
I often found myself forcing shots with Jordan just to get him involved in the game. As we all know, NBA 2K is all about the flash and flare. In the trailers and highlight packages (similar to ESPN), all we see are hard hitting dunks, crossovers, and long three pointers. Clarkson unfortunately is too fundamentally sound to be a fun 2K player. Darn you reliable mid range jumper!
Julius Randle
Before I get to Randle, let me assure you that I am a die hard fan who has watched every single Lakers’ game for as long as I can remember, including all that Julius Randle has been apart of.
That said, I’m not really sure what he is good at. I love JR as a player, but trying to pinpoint him down to a specific skill or asset is difficult. And it’d be easy to just label him an “all around player,” but he doesn’t really possess those skills either. This uncertainty bleeds over into the 2K world, where I find myself forcing things for him similar to Clarkson.
I know that Randle is capable of attaining double-doubles whenever he wants. But for some reason, his rebounding in the game isn’t reflective of real life. He’s definitely not a shooter and his post game could use a lot of work as well.
Although he does get points in the paint, there’s a difference between post moves and bullying your way to the basket. And in the world of 2k, bully ball doesn’t always work. Offensive fouls and getting the ball stripped usually put a stop to that.
There’s no doubt that Randle is a very good player, but until he develops a true skill set, I’ll just continue to start Luol Deng at the power forward spot.