Los Angeles Lakers: Jordan Clarkson can play in crowded backcourt

Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles Lakers is certainly an important part of the team as of now. One of the keys for him moving forward is playing in a crowded backcourt.

As the NBA Draft approaches, most of the talk has been about what the Los Angeles Lakers will be doing with their two first round picks. In addition to what the draft plan is, there has also been a lot of trade rumors.

One of the players that have had his name mentioned in these rumors is Jordan Clarkson. Mostly because of his desirable contract, Clarkson has been talked about in rumors to possibly move one of the bad contracts of Luol Deng or Timofey Mozgov.

For Clarkson, he isn’t thinking about the trade rumors. With a young team, Clarkson is focused on building chemistry. The one player he has been working with closely is D’Angelo Russell.

"“It was great for us. We grew a lot together toward those last games,” Clarkson said to Mark Medina. “We just needed the opportunity to grow in that area. I understand where everybody comes from, with the organization trying to win games. But toward the end of the year, you saw us working together. It was great.”"

There were certainly some struggles for Clarkson and Russell on the court together last season. Both are aggressive scorers on the offensive end, and that could lead to some issues in the offense.

"“A lot of it is just communicating,” Clarkson said to Medina. “Offensively, sometimes it was a problem because we’re both aggressive and want to score. Defensively, it’s where it has to come from. When we come together, that’s where it hurts the most.”"

This offseason, the two have been working hard together to improve as teammates and individually. Even though they are teammates, they could be battling for minutes next season.

"“It was good. It was hard,” Clarkson said to Medina, smiling. “We made it look cool. But it wasn’t cool at all. It’s tough. We try to kill ourselves when we’re out there,” Clarkson said. “The beach helps us get through it. We survived it.”"

While Clarkson believes he can play well with Russell, he might not get the chance. The Lakers would surely love to get rid of at least one of the bad contracts on the team, and that could come at the cost of Clarkson.

Next: Who do the Lakers land in our complete first round mock draft?

Also, it will be interesting to see who the Lakers take with the second overall pick. If the Lakers add another guard, Clarkson and Russell will have to be able to coexist with Clarkson likely being the sixth man off of the bench. No matter what, Clarkson must be prepared to work in a potentially crowded backcourt next season.