Can Jordan Clarkson Fill the Los Angeles Lakers' Point Guard Hole for Good?

With the second pick in the 2015 NBA draft, cap space to blow and free agents to consider, the Los Angeles Lakers have more than their share of offseason questions.

It'd be nice if they knew Jordan Clarkson was a long-term answer at the point.

There's a lot to indicate he might be, starting with his spot on the NBA's All-Rookie First Team in 2014-15.

This year's class of rookie guards wasn't exactly a bumper crop, but the fact that Clarkson, 23, landed a spot on the All-Rookie team means he's already dramatically outperformed his No. 46 draft slot. Once assuming full-time-starter status, he averaged 15.8 points, five assists and 4.2 rebounds on 45.8 percent shooting from the field.

Month	MPG	PPG	APG	RPG
November	11.4	5.0	0.4	1.1
December	9.5	3.2	0.7	1.2
January	23.8	9.8	2.0	2.3
February	27.5	13.8	4.0	3.6
March	32.4	15.8	5.2	4.8
April	36.1	19.4	6.8	4.6

And Clarkson clearly improved as he got more comfortable down the stretch of his first NBA season, averaging 19.4 points, 6.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds in eight April contests.

At 6'5", Clarkson boasts the size to guard either backcourt position, though there's a severe need for improvement on that end. He's also got the athleticism and confidence of another combo guard, one to whom teammate Carlos Boozer compared Clarkson during his postseason exit interview, per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:

Boozer may be a little biased, but he's been around the league a long time. If he sees something in Clarkson, it's worth noting.

At the same time, there are reasons to be skeptical about Clarkson's rookie performance, with the most significant being the circumstances under which he played last year.

The Lakers simply weren't involved in meaningful games last season. And while the low stakes of a lost season afford young players opportunities, a pressure-free environment makes it difficult to judge the value of their production.

Do 19.4 points per game in April mean anything when they come against defenses that aren't taking the opposition seriously? Maybe.

But then again, maybe not.

Last year's Lakers played the equivalent of four months of garbage-time basketball, and it's never wise to draw conclusions from situations like that.

In fairness to Clarkson, the garbage-time argument cuts the other way too.

It would have been easy for him to go through the motions during weeks upon weeks of meaningless basketball, but he seized an opportunity. And he performed well despite a lack of help from Los Angeles' stripped-down roster.

It's hard enough for a second-round rookie to find his way in the league. Doing it as a self-motivated lead dog without help from a supporting cast is even harder.

Clarkson gets credit for shining through during some dark times.

Whether that will be enough to convince the Lakers he's a cornerstone is another question. And depending on the franchise's goals in the near and mid-term, it's possible L.A. won't want an inexperienced player like Clarkson filling a major role.

If the Lakers want a guard who can play alongside Kobe Bryant in a last-gasp playoff push next season, it's probably not Clarkson. Not yet anyway. And everything we've seen from past playoff teams involving Bryant says a point guard's duties are limited to spot-up shooting and disciplined defense (ask Derek Fisher).

Neither of those qualifies as a strength for Clarkson at this stage.

It's also worth considering that the Lakers will devote some of their free-agent cash to Rajon Rondo, whose arrival in Los Angeles has felt inevitable for a while now. Laden with red flags as he is, Rondo has championship experience, and that always matters to the Lakers.

On the other hand, if the Lakers plan to build more gradually—putting rotation pieces in place around their No. 2 draft pick and a big free agent or two over the next couple of offseasons—Clarkson has done more than enough to earn a spot as the point guard next year.

The growth process will need to continue, and Clarkson's understanding that more improvement is necessary bodes well, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com: "I've got to come back against next year and put a whole year together," Clarkson said. "I still have a lot to prove. I've got to keep working. I'm not satisfied. I'm still grinding and working hard, just like everybody else."

A lot could change if the Lakers opt for D'Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay in the draft. Selecting a point guard would seem to indicate the Lakers don't view Clarkson as a featured player.

But Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding remains convinced Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak will go big with his pick:

"

And when stuff is as obvious as the two big men, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, being the best bets in this NBA draft, no matter how much fans might want to stir that pot, even Kupchak will forget to raise the veil.

If you read some of the plain words the Lakers GM spoke Tuesday after working out likely No. 2 overall pick Okafor—with Kupchak expressing ongoing determination to get the other center, Towns, in for a workout—there are no twists and turns.

"

The Lakers' frontcourt leanings have a lot to do with how promising Okafor and Towns are, but they also show some faith in Clarkson.

And who knows? Maybe drafting a guard (unlikely as it seems) won't signal that the Lakers view Clarkson as a backup.

According to Mike Trudell of TWC SportsNet, the Lakers believe in Clarkson's versatility enough to pair him with one of the promising guards in the draft—if it comes to that:

The truth is the Lakers don't know for sure if Clarkson is the long-term solution at the point. They can't be certain because they've only seen him start 38 NBA games in circumstances that made it hard to get a good read on his value.

But he's the right age and has shown the right amount of potential.

Is Clarkson the guy the Lakers can count on for years to come?

He may be, and he may not. What's clear is he's earned the right to answer that question next season.