Don't Sleep on Jordan Clarkson (and our Guard Play)

[One Love]

Stop the HATE on a kid selected at 46 that made the All Rookie team while being the SOLE focus of our offense... He may not be an All Star but the kid can play and goes hard... Let's ENJOY watching him & SUPPORT him... I think Clarkson will have a better year than Russell or Randle personally... My thoughts on their collective production for your feedback is as follows:

Clarkson: 16.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG & 4.5 APG.
Russell: 12.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG & 5.0 APG.
Randle: 10.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG & 1.5 APG.

I may not be in the consensus on the board but inpersoNlly think Randle has the highest BUST factor of the three players... JC will continue to battle and EARN everything he gets... Russell will struggle at times but will thrive in the open court game of the NBA with no hAnd checking...

Lakeshow Baby...

[Marionettetc]

Stop the HATE on a kid selected at 46 that made the All Rookie team while being the SOLE focus of our offense... He may not be an All Star but the kid can play and goes hard... Let's ENJOY watching him & SUPPORT him... I think Clarkson will have a better year than Russell or Randle personally... My thoughts on their collective production for your feedback is as follows:

Clarkson: 16.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG & 4.5 APG.
Russell: 12.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG & 5.0 APG.
Randle: 10.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG & 1.5 APG.

I may not be in the consensus on the board but inpersoNlly think Randle has the highest BUST factor of the three players... JC will continue to battle and EARN everything he gets... Russell will struggle at times but will thrive in the open court game of the NBA with no hAnd checking...

Lakeshow Baby...

One Love - You're free have your own opinion just like anyone else is free to theirs. For example, my only criticism of Jordan Clarkson was that he was a typical score first guard, that I predict he's going to value himself higher than his on court production. The other point was that I thought he could demand around 20 million next season (which despite being lectured on how I'm an "older" fan, still seems unclear with Dock's last salary posting.) - which he almost certainly won't have been proven enough by then to demand.

I never said he's a bad player, or that I don't "support" him. In one of the last few game threads of this last season, I had Jordan Clarkson + pictures of garbage bags as our starting lineup.

I think everyone is aware that he was selected late second round, and that he has surpassed expectations given our roster composition and lottery draft pick aspirations. I also understand everyone (including myself) was excited that someone on our team last season was doing anything of note, considering the general despair surrounding the 2014-2015 season.

A sample size of a few months and that same despair, I think, has inflated Clarkson's performance in most everyone's mind. I don't expect him to sustain what I think everyone is focusing on (48/31/84 17/5/5), his post all star game numbers.

Of course I personally would love a 2nd round pick to turn out to be an All-star steal for my team, but calling people haters because they don't follow some hivethink? Wtf

[BEazy]

The only reason why he had a bad junior season in college is because his father had cancer and it affected his play. Clarkson would of been a sure fire first round selection if he had a good junior season. That's mainly the reason why so many teams passed on him because of that season. Just because he is a 2nd rounder doesn't mean that he can't obtain star status or that his skills can't translate into super star potential....

[john248]

The only reason why he had a bad junior season in college is because his father had cancer and it affected his play. Clarkson would of been a sure fire first round selection if he had a good junior season. That's mainly the reason why so many teams passed on him because of that season. Just because he is a 2nd rounder doesn't mean that he can't obtain star status or that his skills can't translate into super star potential....

Except no one is really saying he absolutely can't be a super star. It's just reckless to say that he would be a super star in the future given what we know. He came into the league at the age of 22 which is fairly late, and we've seen players of a similar skill set and ability who have posted similar rookie campaigns at a younger age then him. This is an indicator that his ceiling may not be as high as those he's being compared to. You may think 22 or 23 is young, but if another player is doing the same thing at age 19 or 20, that's a few years of development that Clarkson is missing out on no matter how hard of a worker Clarkson is going forward. This is the same reason we see 1 and done players get selected earlier than upperclassmen in the draft.

Additionally, while we all hope Clarkson goes through a rapid growth period where we becomes a star, I just don't see a point in saying "well he does have that chance to have super star potential". You can say that for any star player since a comment like that carries little weight. Really, who cares. What Lakers fan doesn't Clarkson to morph into Russell Westbrook as soon as this season? At this point, I don't even care that he was drafted in the 2nd round since that time as passed. All I really care about is what he does going forward. We're talking about a very good slasher but doesn't have a consistent outside shot off catch and shoots and someone who's rather mediocre at keeping the ball moving. I suspect the latter 2 will improve over time, but the question is how much; this is what will really determine just how good of a player he will be. And it's not as easy as some make it out to me otherwise everyone can obtain star status or translate into super star potential.

[pdub15]

Stop the HATE on a kid selected at 46 that made the All Rookie team while being the SOLE focus of our offense... He may not be an All Star but the kid can play and goes hard... Let's ENJOY watching him & SUPPORT him... I think Clarkson will have a better year than Russell or Randle personally... My thoughts on their collective production for your feedback is as follows:

Clarkson: 16.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG & 4.5 APG.
Russell: 12.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG & 5.0 APG.
Randle: 10.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG & 1.5 APG.

I may not be in the consensus on the board but inpersoNlly think Randle has the highest BUST factor of the three players... JC will continue to battle and EARN everything he gets... Russell will struggle at times but will thrive in the open court game of the NBA with no hAnd checking...

Lakeshow Baby...

I'm hoping these 3 can put up numbers like this. If they do, Kobe stays healthy, Roy Hibbert returns to his All-League D form, and Lou Will & Iggy Young (I refuse to call him Nick or Swaggy P) produce off the bench with Bass we can actually sneak into that 8th or 7th seed. That is going to be huge for free agency. No SUPERSTAR free agent is going to sign unless we get into the playoffs. Clarkson has so much potential but what pops out more is his work ethic and eagerness to learn more. The fact that he constantly picks Kobe & Nash's brain is way beyond a good sign. Nash time with Lakers might have been something all of us Lakers fan want to forget but he is one of the best PG's ever to play. I'm still up & down on the Russell pick. I think he could be a great combo guard but than I read he hasn't text or called Kobe to workout because he doesn't want to bug him. Come On Man (In my Keyshawn Johnson voice). Everyone knows Kobe is a workout nut. My concern about Randall is shaking off rust or worst case another Greg Oden or Joel Embiid.