The Los Angeles Lakers have a long list of players from last year’s roster hitting the free agent market this summer with Jordan Clarkson being the team’s top priority. Clarkson had another solid season after an impressive rookie campaign and is more than deserving of a new long-term deal as a restricted free agent.
According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Clarkson has agreed to terms with the Lakers on a deal worth $50 million over four years:
Jordan Clarkson has reached agreement on a four-year, $50M deal to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2016
Although the Lakers want to be aggressive in free agency and hope to land one or two big-name free agents, Clarkson’s new contract was near the top of the to-do list. The Missouri product has shown a lot of promise over the last two years and has dedicated himself to improving his game on both ends of the basketball floor during the offseason.
Clarkson, along with Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, and Brandon Ingram, is considered to be an important piece to the rebuilding process in Los Angeles. The team has taken a giant step forward to keeping him in a Lakers uniform for the foreseeable future with this new deal.
With Clarkson’s deal finished the Lakers have now already agreed on two contracts in the opening hours of this free agency after coming to terms with center Timofey Mozgov. This is certainly a departure from the last couple of off-seasons when the Lakers sat back while waiting on big-name free agents to make a decision.
Last season, Clarkson averaged 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while shooting 43.3 percent from the floor and 34.7 from beyond the arc.