Lakers: How Much More Can Jordan Clarkson Develop?
Jordan Clarkson’s trajectory has been a tad bit disappointing when considering how promising his rookie season was. However, that does not mean he doesn’t have value for the Lakers.
It seems like not that long ago that Jordan Clarkson seemed like the point guard of the future for the Los Angeles Lakers. He was certainly a steal, having been selected in the second round by Washington before essentially being bought out by the Lakers.
Clarkson had a bit of an up and down season in his rookie year, at least during the first half. It wasn’t until then-head coach Byron Scott let the young kid play that we saw flashes of his potential. And he certainly had a very good second half of his rookie season, averaging 16.7 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game after the All-Star break. Jordan Clarkson ended up with All-Rookie honors and had every Lakers fan hopeful for the future.
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Fast forward to this season and things don’t look quite as bright for the third year guard. Over the past two seasons, Clarkson has not really shown any development from his rookie season. He has arguably regressed in regards to his decision making. Clarkson showed potential as a combo guard in his rookie year, however, the real Jordan Clarkson appears to be a scorer more than a playmaker. And there’s nothing wrong with that, scorers certainly have their value in the NBA.
That brings us to our million dollar question: What is Jordan Clarkson’s ceiling?
It’s easy to be down on Clarkson’s potential, considering how his development has seemingly gone backward. In Clarkson’s case, I believe he still has a way to go. It seems it took a bit for him to figure out his basketball identity. Now that he’s firmly established himself as a scorer, he can now add to his repertoire and continue becoming a better player.
Clarkson has certainly shown that he’s moving along nicely. With the Lakers making themselves dependent on their young kids and no one else, it’s extremely encouraging to see the steps they -have taken as a whole. Since the All-Star break, Jordan Clarkson is averaging 18.9 points, 3.9 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. Certainly a significant improvement over his numbers before the break.
At this point, Jordan Clarkson is almost a finished product. He is the oldest of the young core and will be celebrating his 25th birthday next season. At this point of his career, his ceiling is a quick scoring punch, not unlike Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford. The difference between those two and Clarkson is that he still has potential to be a competent defensive player.
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A scoring punch off of the bench is always valuable and who knows, Clarkson could be in the running to win a Sixth Man of the Year award or two. He’ll never be a star player, but not everyone can be a star. Teams need role players to be able to function and I believe Clarkson can still be a very valuable one for Los Angeles.