Jordan Clarkson continued his run of excellent games on Friday night. His 27 point, seven rebound, five assist performance was the lone bright spot in the Los Angeles Lakers blowout loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
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With Clarkson’s play turning heads everywhere recently, questions have begun to rise about whether the Lakers should move forward with Clarkson as their point guard and focus on other areas. According to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters, head coach Byron Scott stopped short of saying the Lakers would build around Clarkson:
Byron Scott says Lakers are definitely going to be looking to add pieces "with" Jordan Clarkson next year but not necessarily "around" him.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) April 4, 2015
Scott clearly believes Clarkson is a big part of the Lakers future and for good reason as Clarkson was recently named Western Conference Rookie of the Month. However, it looks like that won’t stop the team from pursuing other options at the point guard position if the opportunity presents itself. This off-season has a number of options at the position.
Rajon Rondo is looking like the Lakers most likely big free agent signing if the rumors are to be believed. Goran Dragic has also been mentioned as a possibility and the draft has two possible point guards in D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay who could hear their names called by the Lakers.
Clarkson’s ability to play both on and off the ball will serve him well in this regard as even if he isn’t the starter, he could be the Lakers main backcourt option off the bench, similar to Jamal Crawford. Either way, look for Clarkson to continue his growth and he will remain one of the Lakers top contributors.
[divide]Lakers Rookie Jordan Clarkson Nears Triple-Double, Says Kobe Bryant Told Him