Bucher: "I see Payton as being the best player from this draft"

[Orlwillbeback]

Lakers fans saying that Jordan Clarkson is going to be the best PG in this draft if not already better than Payton. They're saying Paytons shot is broken to the point that its unfix-able.

Say what you will about who's better but they DID get a steal at 46.

Payton still has more value due to his ability to make others better. Clarkson is a shoot first point guard.

[paperboymafia]

Lakers fans saying that Jordan Clarkson is going to be the best PG in this draft if not already better than Payton. They're saying Paytons shot is broken to the point that its unfix-able.

Say what you will about who's better but they DID get a steal at 46.

Steal yes, better than Payton? Heh. I'll be diplomatic and say TBC.

Lakers fans will look to anything to make themselves feel better at this point in time.

[drsd]

Payton still has more value due to his ability to make others better. Clarkson is a shoot first point guard.

Payton's recent rebounding run makes hi look like the second coming of Jason Kidd. Payton could at his peak consider media hype over a triple-double average for a season. Clarkson is "ok."

This is the era of the PG. There are many, many great players now and a comin'. Payton might not make an All Star team beacuse of this. But he is clearly a prospect worth taking a look at for the next years. To quote me, "Clarkson is 'ok.' "


..

[Moshi]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2jtsuNMN5M[/youtube]

[tooler]

Like many of the "point guards" in this draft, it's likely Clarkson will be a shooting guard in the long run.

And like a lot of rookies, he's putting up nice numbers after the All-Star Break. Don't let the GB hype get to you.

[Lakersteve20]

Clarkson is the best PG in the draft, but Payton is a great young PG as well. Clarkson has put up some great numbers against players like Westbrook, Wall, Curry, Conley, and Rose.

He said his favorite player is Westbrook and he watches a lot of game film on him. He plays exactly like him, not as strong but has the midrange shot and is always in attack mode on every play. He's a scoring PG but he knows when to pass, he doesn't take many bad shots.

[MagicStarwipe]

Clarkson is the best PG in the draft, but Payton is a great young PG as well. Clarkson has put up some great numbers against players like Westbrook, Wall, Curry, Conley, and Rose.

He said his favorite player is Westbrook and he watches a lot of game film on him. He plays exactly like him, not as strong but has the midrange shot and is always in attack mode on every play. He's a scoring PG but he knows when to pass, he doesn't take many bad shots.

Thanks for stopping by Lakers fan. Safe to say our board strongly disagrees with you, but we're glad you like Clarkson.

[Skin]

Clarkson is the best PG in the draft, but Payton is a great young PG as well. Clarkson has put up some great numbers against players like Westbrook, Wall, Curry, Conley, and Rose.

He said his favorite player is Westbrook and he watches a lot of game film on him. He plays exactly like him, not as strong but has the midrange shot and is always in attack mode on every play. He's a scoring PG but he knows when to pass, he doesn't take many bad shots.

Clarkson is a better shooter. That's nothing to scoff at, but that's it. ..and even in saying that, he's not a good 3pt shooter at all.

In every other facet of the game, Payton is better. ...and just as you will say that you think Clarkson will improve as a 3pt shooter, we think Payton will improve as a shooter.

Glad you like your boy, but I see him as a future 6th man for you guys when you get tired of his weaknesses at the point. He'll be a nice source of scoring off the bench.

[LALifer49]

Not saying Clarkson will be better than Payton but don't sell him short. His numbers as a starter have been very impressive and this last 6 game stretch has been his best of the season by far. He's also growing as a playmaker game by game and has back to back double digit assist games (and his teammates aren't quite on par with Payton's.) He also never turns the ball over. At any rate both players are on my fantasy team so I'm rooting for both .

[tooler]

Not saying Clarkson will be better than Payton but don't sell him short. His numbers as a starter have been very impressive and this last 6 game stretch has been his best of the season by far. He's also growing as a playmaker game by game and has back to back double digit assist games (and his teammates aren't quite on par with Payton's.) He also never turns the ball over. At any rate both players are on my fantasy team so I'm rooting for both .

Sorry I'm just shell-shocked from the Rookie Thread hype the last month or so. If I had a nickel for every report of "a great 4 game stretch" or a "good month" or "growing game-by-game" I'd go buy the Clippers. I'm sure he'll be good.

[tooler]

I also think we as fans tend to expect players to increase linearly throughout their career, so we take trend lines from the end of their rookie season and draw them out to infinity. But you never know with sports. Kyle O'Quinn looked like a steal at the 49th pick of the draft. Now he's fallen off a cliff.

[seeingstars]

Is Clarkson a defensive beast? Is he a legitimate triple double threat almost every other game? Aren't the Lakers the team that tries their best to play as many dleague talents as possible?

[j-ragg]

Clarkson is the best PG in the draft, but Payton is a great young PG as well. Clarkson has put up some great numbers against players like Westbrook, Wall, Curry, Conley, and Rose.

He said his favorite player is Westbrook and he watches a lot of game film on him. He plays exactly like him, not as strong but has the midrange shot and is always in attack mode on every play. He's a scoring PG but he knows when to pass, he doesn't take many bad shots.

Ballboys...

[LALifer49]

Is Clarkson a defensive beast? Is he a legitimate triple double threat almost every other game? Aren't the Lakers the team that tries their best to play as many dleague talents as possible?

No I think you have us confused with the 6ers. Payton has more triple doubles on the season than Irving, guess he's better...arbitrary stat, but yes Clarkson does fill up the stat sheet, especially this past month.

[j-ragg]

Is Clarkson a defensive beast? Is he a legitimate triple double threat almost every other game? Aren't the Lakers the team that tries their best to play as many dleague talents as possible?

No I think you have us confused with the 6ers. Payton has more triple doubles on the season than Irving, guess he's better...arbitrary stat, but yes Clarkson does fill up the stat sheet, especially this past month.

Didn't know Clarkson started on the All Star team this year.

Or were we just comparing rookie point guards? One plays like a point guard the other doesn't.

[LALifer49]

Obviously not the point I was making. Hell I'm not even comparing the two. Having said that Clarkson is a combo guard and while I could easily see him as a sg his pg skills are improving.

[FoxToddley]

As far as I'm concerned the Payton vs Clarkson debate is like comparing apples and grapes, both are very different types of PGs under different circumstances, but I will give it a go anyway. While you may argue that the stats are similar and the teams have similar records, you must also consider that Payton is having to share his touches around more then Clarkson would as he is surrounded by better, yet unorganized, starting talent such as Dipo, Vuc and to some extend Harris. The 2 PG's also share very differing responsibilities to the team. Clarkson is LA's go-to scorer type of deal while Payton objectives are primarily to facilitate and take whatever offense you can get.

Defense is also a factor you have to throw in but I can't say I've seen enough of Clarksons D to judge him against EP, who's defense is very very good so that will have to be a discussion for down the line.

These 2 players are about the same now when it comes to current ability but looking at projected ceilings, I would take EP 7 days a week over Clarkson. No matter how much better or worse his shooting gets he will always be that Pass first, defensive pain in the arse, court vision extraordinaire PG, that's his bread and butter and forever will be. If Clarkson went on a scoring slump tomorrow, what else does he bring to the table that's of the same level as his scoring? A few assists here and there doesn't make you play maker.

I'm not knocking Clarkson, before I get attacked by renegade LAL fans, I would love to have him here to play alongside EP and I think will turn into a good-solid rotation player in the future when its all said and done.

[LALifer49]

^No argument here, I like Clarkson think he'll be good but I think Payton has a higher ceiling, Clarkson is also 22...

[SOUL]

^No argument here, I like Clarkson think he'll be good but I think Payton has a higher ceiling, Clarkson is also 22...

No offense, most Magic fans actually would've reacted worse but you guys are coming on to the Magic board and saying Clarkson is better especially after Payton has been tearing it up for more than half of the season. People aren't going to just be like "Yeah Clarkson is way better than our PG that has been tearing it up!"

Clarkson looks good though. Way more impressive than Smart and Exum thus far although all of these guys have stuff to work on.

[Driguez]

So Clarkson is a better PG than EP because he is a Westbrook fanboy? lulz. Too bad we don't play the Lakers again this season.