Article: Lakers' Luke Walton encouraging Jordan Clarkson to blend scoring and playmaking

[Landsberger]

Defense and shooting needs the most improvement . Rather trade him to be honest

Objectively Russell is worse in both areas. Ingram is shooting horribly.

I would trade anyone on the team if it is a clear improvement. WTS he is not meshing well with the offense at the moment. I will also say that he was playing much differently when this team looked very surprising and that early success was due in part to that play. I'd not give up and see if he can find that rhythm again.

Maybe moving Lou for a pick to a contender puts him in a position to be more of a distributer. I still see a lot of value in him. Do I think he's a front line starter? No. I do think he can be a Lou Williams type and a change of pace guard for a long time however. Maybe expectations are off for him. By no means is he the only one struggling out there right now.

[Vesper]

Defense and shooting needs the most improvement . Rather trade him to be honest

Objectively Russell is worse in both areas. Ingram is shooting horribly.

I would trade anyone on the team if it is a clear improvement. WTS he is not meshing well with the offense at the moment. I will also say that he was playing much differently when this team looked very surprising and that early success was due in part to that play. I'd not give up and see if he can find that rhythm again.

Maybe moving Lou for a pick to a contender puts him in a position to be more of a distributer. I still see a lot of value in him. Do I think he's a front line starter? No. I do think he can be a Lou Williams type and a change of pace guard for a long time however. Maybe expectations are off for him. By no means is he the only one struggling out there right now.

DAfuq.

Objectively, Russ is a better shooter and defender than JC who is faster, quicker and older.

[Landsberger]

Defense and shooting needs the most improvement . Rather trade him to be honest

Objectively Russell is worse in both areas. Ingram is shooting horribly.

I would trade anyone on the team if it is a clear improvement. WTS he is not meshing well with the offense at the moment. I will also say that he was playing much differently when this team looked very surprising and that early success was due in part to that play. I'd not give up and see if he can find that rhythm again.

Maybe moving Lou for a pick to a contender puts him in a position to be more of a distributer. I still see a lot of value in him. Do I think he's a front line starter? No. I do think he can be a Lou Williams type and a change of pace guard for a long time however. Maybe expectations are off for him. By no means is he the only one struggling out there right now.

DAfuq.

Objectively, Russ is a better shooter and defender than JC who is faster, quicker and older.

??! Russell is the worst defender on the team. Bar none. Not really sure that's debatable. Clarkson is not a lot better but his issues are from lack of technique not a lack of trying.

Shooting is just as black and white. Clarkson is around 46% as of the post. Russell is at 40%.... for the second straight year. Clarkson has improved his shooting year 1 to 3. Russell is .05% better.

[oa7goat4sho]

With the way he's playing, keeping Clarkson does not look like a good way to help the team grow. Lakers should consider trading him for a versatile defender such as Willie Cauley-Stein. Not that they are equally valuable trade assets, but I'm guessing a trade that centers these two players can be worked out quite easily.

[stan francisco]

"... encourages him to blend playmaking and scoring"? Really? Nicely put. Better than saying to the press that he needs to stop chucking it up.

[Danny Darko]

"... encourages him to blend playmaking and scoring"? Really? Nicely put. Better than saying to the press that he needs to stop chucking it up.

"and by blend we mean more than 2 times a game when you've been triple teamed and are falling out of bounds..."

[Vae Victus]

Hence why i was livid at the Lakres giving him the 4 year max that he qualified for.

I didnt see any teams out there willing to throw big money at Clarkson with his defense so putrid and basically turned into a chucking SG.

Regardless, gotta hope he can turn things around otherwise we're gonna be stuck with him as a subpar no D guard that the team cant really find a role for when we start transitioning to trying to win.

Not to mention we're also stuck with Deng's putrid deal and Mozgov's overpay.

[yanuary]

??! Russell is the worst defender on the team. Bar none. Not really sure that's debatable. Clarkson is not a lot better but his issues are from lack of technique not a lack of trying.

Shooting is just as black and white. Clarkson is around 46% as of the post. Russell is at 40%.... for the second straight year. Clarkson has improved his shooting year 1 to 3. Russell is .05% better.

Russell DRPM -0,71
Clarkson DRPM -1,86

Russell DRTG (on court) 108,8
Clarkson DRTG (on court) 109,4
(off court same 110,3)

Russell is much better shooter (46,8 c&s versus 34,4 Clarkson), but he is creator also, so he made more pullup attemps than Clarkson (black hole this year). JC horrible a/to ratio isnt coincidence (he lost ball often when he slash and its not in ts%)

Also fg%? in almost 2017? Seriously?

[Landsberger]

??! Russell is the worst defender on the team. Bar none. Not really sure that's debatable. Clarkson is not a lot better but his issues are from lack of technique not a lack of trying.

Shooting is just as black and white. Clarkson is around 46% as of the post. Russell is at 40%.... for the second straight year. Clarkson has improved his shooting year 1 to 3. Russell is .05% better.

Russell DRPM -0,71
Clarkson DRPM -1,86

Russell DRTG (on court) 108,8
Clarkson DRTG (on court) 109,4
(off court same 110,3)

Russell is much better shooter (46,8 c&s versus 34,4 Clarkson), but he is creator also, so he made more pullup attemps than Clarkson (black hole this year). JC horrible a/to ratio isnt coincidence (he lost ball often when he slash and its not in ts%)

Also fg%? in almost 2017? Seriously?

Ahhh. The quant stats. Yes the old FG% still works just fine. Russell is a 40% shooter and isn't shooting any better year 2. I'd also argue that he is taking better shots this year over last as well.

Btw.... for 30 years I worked in the quant business (financial and economics) and the advanced stats in sports are not really that advanced because they rely on singular performance metrics and there is little control that can be exacted for situational aspects of a dynamic framework. You have to twist the math to show that a player making 40 out of 100 is a better shooter than one making 44.

As for Russell being a creator. That's right and that's his primary role on the team.

Defensively they are both not very good. My issue with Russell is that he takes that end of the floor off where Clarkston at least shows effort.

They are not really comparable. Ones a second round pick who's a primary bench player and the other is a high draft pick who is supposed to be the next leader of the team. Both need to adjust their mental approaches to reach their full potentials.

[TyCobb]

Hence why i was livid at the Lakres giving him the 4 year max that he qualified for.

I didnt see any teams out there willing to throw big money at Clarkson with his defense so putrid and basically turned into a chucking SG.

Regardless, gotta hope he can turn things around otherwise we're gonna be stuck with him as a subpar no D guard that the team cant really find a role for when we start transitioning to trying to win.

Not to mention we're also stuck with Deng's putrid deal and Mozgov's overpay.

I thought Clarkson took a discount?

[Vesper]

??! Russell is the worst defender on the team. Bar none. Not really sure that's debatable. Clarkson is not a lot better but his issues are from lack of technique not a lack of trying.

Shooting is just as black and white. Clarkson is around 46% as of the post. Russell is at 40%.... for the second straight year. Clarkson has improved his shooting year 1 to 3. Russell is .05% better.

Russell DRPM -0,71
Clarkson DRPM -1,86

Russell DRTG (on court) 108,8
Clarkson DRTG (on court) 109,4
(off court same 110,3)

Russell is much better shooter (46,8 c&s versus 34,4 Clarkson), but he is creator also, so he made more pullup attemps than Clarkson (black hole this year). JC horrible a/to ratio isnt coincidence (he lost ball often when he slash and its not in ts%)

Also fg%? in almost 2017? Seriously?

Ahhh. The quant stats. Yes the old FG% still works just fine. Russell is a 40% shooter and isn't shooting any better year 2. I'd also argue that he is taking better shots this year over last as well.

Btw.... for 30 years I worked in the quant business (financial and economics) and the advanced stats in sports are not really that advanced because they rely on singular performance metrics and there is little control that can be exacted for situational aspects of a dynamic framework. You have to twist the math to show that a player making 40 out of 100 is a better shooter than one making 44.

As for Russell being a creator. That's right and that's his primary role on the team.

Defensively they are both not very good. My issue with Russell is that he takes that end of the floor off where Clarkston at least shows effort.

They are not really comparable. Ones a second round pick who's a primary bench player and the other is a high draft pick who is supposed to be the next leader of the team. Both need to adjust their mental approaches to reach their full potentials.

DAFUQ.

Clarkson is the one that has elite speed, quickness and still getting burned.

How any Laker fan can think JC is a better shooter or defender than Russ is beyond me.

[crazyeights]

Double Post

[crazyeights]

Hence why i was livid at the Lakres giving him the 4 year max that he qualified for.

I thought Clarkson took a discount?

The former second-round pick actually took a substantial discount to return to Los Angeles, as another team (like the reportedly interested Philadelphia 76ers) could have offered him "a max of $57.8 million over four years or $34.1 million over three years" with the Lakers able to offer "a four-year contract up to $88.9 million," according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2016/7/1/12077474/nba-free-agency-rumors-jordan-clarkson-la-lakers-restricted

[Landsberger]

So he wants to be here and took less $$ to stay. He is really struggling the last month or so with feeling the game. I think Luke needs to change it up a bit with him. I wonder how he'd do next to Russell rather than with his future doppleganger in Lou? I don't think that would affect Young who can get his points with just about anyone but it may jump start Clarkson. Who knows? No one of the team is having a consistent series of games right now.

[stan francisco]

"... encourages him to blend playmaking and scoring"? Really? Nicely put. Better than saying to the press that he needs to stop chucking it up.

"and by blend we mean more than 2 times a game when you've been triple teamed and are falling out of bounds..."

How confusing it must be for JC to, in his first three(?) NBA years, watch Kobe chucking unsuccessfully while nobody says anything. In fact, he's told by everyone around him to watch and learn every little detail.

As he now is partially replacing Kobe at SG — monkey see, monkey do is what we have. I guess it could be expected. JC knows how Kobe played SG because he learned from him in person. Kobe was one of the greatest ever. He tries to emulate that.

Enter Luke, not one of the greatest ever. In fact, he's maybe one of the most unselfish and unflashy players ever. A coach with team above all concepts stemming from coach John Wooden, PJ, Kerr. Judging by his play, it seems as if JC still thinks it's better to impersonate Kobe.

I hope he won't need three years with Luke to realize that Luke knows the game better (I'd argue even better than Kobe) and to understand that he himself is not Kobe and never will be.

If he doesn't get with it now, I see him gone by TD. Wonder what we could get for he and Deng? What teams are underperforming?

[DNP-Old]

Hence why i was livid at the Lakres giving him the 4 year max that he qualified for.

I thought Clarkson took a discount?

The former second-round pick actually took a substantial discount to return to Los Angeles, as another team (like the reportedly interested Philadelphia 76ers) could have offered him "a max of $57.8 million over four years or $34.1 million over three years" with the Lakers able to offer "a four-year contract up to $88.9 million," according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2016/7/1/12077474/nba-free-agency-rumors-jordan-clarkson-la-lakers-restricted

He "took a discount" if another team actually offered him more money. The fact that they could have offered more is irrelevant. If no team offered more than LAL, he took the highest offer. Example: because Deng didn't sign a max deal with LAL doesn't mean he took a discount. But if, in fact, Clarkson was offered more than what he signed for, yes he gave LAL a discount.

[stan francisco]

I think JC wanted to remain a Laker and I think the FO wanted to resign him. They agreed on a deal both felt good about. I don't think either side sees a discount being a part of it.

Personally, I think it's a fair value deal for his talents but I think his type of talents are better value under another system on another team.

[gts1]

That trade value though if he does improve there...

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Why would you trade him if he improves. He's already a good role player and if he improves he's just the type of guy every team needs


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[Landsberger]

While I agree with the general comments about Clarkson I do see him as a valuable player. There is a faith in this new system and in Luke that will need to be proven out IMHO. The team is not playing well in this system right now. In fact they are playing just as poorly as last year. This system depends on highly skilled players on the perimeter and a high % of jump shots made. This team has 2 veteran guards and one veteran forward that can shoot consistently from the areas that make this offense work. What I haven't seen from the coaching is a recognition of this and an adjustment to the players strengths. Even the great PJ significantly modified the Triangle for Shaq and Kobe. Not saying we have anyone near them in talent but we do have players that struggle to do what this system needs in it's purist form.

This isn't a bash on Luke in the least but a comment about letting the young coach find his way and learn to adjust. This isn't Golden State's roster and that system didn't form those players. It was an adjustment to the players that made that system great and those players great. Just as young players need to grow so do new coaches.

Does Clarkson need to shape up? Definitely. Should the coaching staff look for better ways to make him successful? I think so. He still has some room to grow and in the right situation he's more valuable than the return at this point I'd think.

[miggs]

That trade value though if he does improve there...

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Why would you trade him if he improves. He's already a good role player and if he improves he's just the type of guy every team needs


Sent from my iPhone using pure dumb luck

I figured the green text was implied lol obviously if he can focus on what this team needs then his spot is secured but if he keeps going down the road to Lou 2.0, maybe the front office dangles him as the return for Clarkson will be greater than Lou's and Lou will be cheaper to keep on the next deal. All depends how willing JC is to defend and keep the ball movement going when he's out there.

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