Jordan Clarkson Ready to Embrace Real Role with Los Angeles Lakers

Rookie Jordan Clarkson has seen limited minutes so far in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He may soon get the chance to embrace a more meaningful role.

The 6’5” speedster out of Mizzou was selected 46th overall in this year’s draft. The Lakers envisioned him as a point guard prospect for the future. Clarkson was more focused on the present.

Feeling disrespected for slipping to the second round, he said, per Mark Medina for the Los Angeles Daily News: “I felt like I was one of the better point guards in the draft, maybe the best.”

There’s nothing like confidence in a brand new NBA baller. But sometimes they need to learn to walk before they run.

The 22-year-old took every shot in sight during Las Vegas Summer League, leading all Lakers in scoring, with 15.8 points and five boards per game.

And then came the first month of the regular season, spent primarily as a third-string shooting guard behind Kobe Bryant and Wayne Ellington.

In 12 minutes per game over 10 appearances, Clarkson has averaged five points and less than one assist per game. And while he’s nailing 42 percent of his three-pointers, the sample size is too small to be meaningful—only seven attempts in total.

He has also averaged 23.5 points and 7.5 assists in two starts for the D-Fenders, the Lakers’ Development League affiliate. That’s the difference between baby steps in the big time and a romp through the outer fringes.

Some sort of happy medium may soon be at hand.

Interviewed by Mike Trudell for Lakers.com on Nov. 25, Byron Scott said he’s considering a switch from Ronnie Price to Clarkson at the backup point position: “I’m going to have to give him a real small menu of plays that I want him to run, just so I can keep him from getting himself into trouble.”

Elaborating on a score-first mentality, Scott added: “He still has to learn how to run a team…I’ve got to get him to fight against his instincts for the first 15 seconds of the shot clock, just to try and get his teammates involved.”

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

Considering that the headstrong rookie would likely be playing alongside Nick “Swaggy P” Young, there could be ample entertainment value. And lots of room for unbridled swag. 

The eagerness to score doesn’t mean Clarkson is a one-dimensional player. He’s got the size of a shooting guard and the vision and quickness to effectively run the point. His ball-handling skills are well above average, and he’s athletic enough to guard multiple positions.

Plus, he’s coachable and a willing student.

If Scott holds true to his conversation with Trudell, it would be an invaluable step up the development ladder, something of real value for a team struggling to find relevancy with a 5-14 record.

For some observers, the gates can’t swing open soon enough.

Clarkson was most effective in college when slicing and dicing to the rim, converting 50 percent of his two-point attempts during his lone season at Missouri. He was streaky from behind the arc, however, shooting just 28 percent with a low-release jumper.

Yet, during two prior years at Tulsa, he averaged a more respectable 34 percent from distance.

Before the draft, the NBA hopeful hooked up with development skills coach Drew Hanlen in an effort to develop a more consistent stroke. 

“We lifted his elbow higher," explained Hanlen, per Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We lifted his release point. We changed the balance on his jump shot so he’s jumping straight vertical instead of tucking his knees up.”

According to a recent tweet from the shot doctor, the mission is ongoing:

It’s all part of an ongoing evolution, most of which we never see. When a player doesn’t appear during games, we tend to assume the wheels have stopped rolling.

But in fact, Clarkson’s a gym rat who, as his coach pointed out, “continues to work his butt off.”

The hard labor has included matching up against Bryant during scrimmages.

After a training camp practice, per Lakers.com video, Clarkson was asked if Bryant was taking him under his wing.

“Shoot, I hope so," the first-year guard replied. "I’m learning a lot from him. He does a good job talking to me. I’m being a sponge right now, soaking as much information as I can. Shoot, it just keeps getting better.”

The simple truth is that Clarkson, Young and first-round pick Julius Randle—out for the season with a broken leg—could well form the nucleus for a purple and gold squad of the future.

After all, despite Bryant’s role as the team’s reigning superstar and mentor, he’s now at that place where the end is much closer than the beginning.

And what better way for a young headstrong prospect to accelerate his learning curve, than on the floor with a legend, in the midst of a challenging season?

It’s the losses, the tough games, the impossible situations that provide true matriculation opportunities.

We don't yet know how far Jordan Clarkson can go in the league.

But he's ready to embrace a real role in Los Angeles, and all he's waiting for is for Scott to give him the green light.