The Los Angeles Lakers are in need of several contributing elements to their roster before the clock strikes 2:00 CT on February 6th. With Anthony Davis about to miss at least a week, LA’s need for center depth becomes even more prevalent. Not only that, but the Lakers need to upgrade their perimeter holes—defensively and offensively. While trading for a certain Utah Jazz shooting guard in Jordan Clarkson wouldn’t do much to help them defensively, he would offer much on the offensive side.
Jazz Shooting Guard A Candidate To Jolt Lakers Offense
Is Utah Jazz Shooting Guard Jordan Clarkson a Potential Fit in Los Angeles?
Perimeter shooting, apart from paint depth, is the next-best upgrade the Lakers need. Currently, LA does not have many scorers who can go out and get 20 points on a night-in-night-out basis. LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and AD fit that category, but their other pieces do not. Clarkson, a former Laker draft pick from 2014, would immediately provide scoring and someone who can create his own shot and facilitate the offense. Additionally, Clarkson playoff track record is solid. In 20-plus postseason games with the Jazz, he has averaged 17.3 PPG and has often come up clutch, whether by shooting the three or driving to the paint and pulling up for a mid-range shot.
Again, Clarkson’s defense is not much to get up for. However, what he can do for a team with the ball on the other end might be worth the deficiency on the other. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton shared his thoughts on a Clarkson trade out of Utah and how he could help a team—the Lakers or another.
“The Sixth Man Award winner in 2020-21 remains a certified bucket, averaging 22.5 points per 36 minutes. Clarkson has been less efficient than in his prime years, supplying volume scoring more than anything the past two seasons, but interested teams could reasonably expect that the 32-year-old’s shot diet would get easier with better talent around him…Clarkson started his career with the Lakers, and a return would make sense to boost their shot creation off the bench.”
A Fit With the Lakers?
Of course, the Lakers priorities should lie with adhering to AD’s plea for another center to back him up or at least play beside him at the five. Davis recently stressed in a sit-down conversation with ESPN’s Shams Charania that he’s at his best in that scenario. Judging by how he played with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee during the Lakers 2020 championship finals run, Davis isn’t wrong by any account.
Pelton suggests the Lakers or the Orlando Magic as the best possible fits for Clarkson, provided the Jazz decide to move him in the coming days. It would certainly aid the Lakers in taking some pressure off of LeBron and AD, who account for the majority of the Lakers’ offense. Reaves largely accounts for the rest, but Clarkson could further head coach JJ Redick‘s need for offensive output on a team that ranks 17th in the league in scoring.
