Los Angeles Lakers: Jordan Clarkson thriving despite limited minutes

The Los Angeles Lakers are a team loaded with young talent, so the growing pains that fans have endured are understandable and expected. One major bright spot in the Lakers’ recent 1-5 stretch is fourth-year shooting guard Jordan Clarkson.

Jordan Clarkson was originally selected in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, and the Los Angeles Lakers traded for him for cash considerations. The 6’5″ guard attended Texas before transferring to Missouri, where he enjoyed a successful college career before becoming a pleasant surprise for the Lakers.

After signing a two-year deal with the Lakers, Clarkson spent most of his first season bouncing back and forth between the Lakers and their minor league affiliate Los Angeles D-Fenders. In his time he did spend with the Lakers, he came out of nowhere to average 11.9 points per game to become the first Laker to be named to the All-Rookie First Team since Eddie Jones in 1995.

Since then, Laker fans have seen Clarkson’s confidence skyrocket as he has provided scoring and energy whenever he steps on the floor. This season he is averaging 14.9 points per game off the bench, and he makes a case for this year’s Sixth Man award winner with his 48.1 field goal percentage on 12.1 shots per game.

Perhaps the most surprising part of Jordan Clarkson’s start to the 2017-18 campaign is that he has seemingly fallen toward the bottom of Luke Walton‘s pecking order off the bench. Clarkson has been playing a career-low 22.5 minutes per game, but is first on the team is Player Efficiency Rating.

There are a few clear reasons why Clarkson has struggled to find consistent playing time and none of them are necessarily his fault. Rookie point guard Lonzo Ball is the Lakers’ priority as far as developing young players, so Clarkson has been forced to accept his position as a role player so that Ball can get as much NBA experience as possible so he can improve.

The arrival of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also hindered Clarkson’s chances of seeing increased playing time this season. Despite being a year younger and posting similar numbers to Clarkson, Caldwell-Pope has solidified the starting shooting guard position because of his tenacious defense and willingness to guard the league’s best players.

Something that Clarkson has working in his favor is that he is capable of playing both the point guard and shooting guard positions. He has been able to fill either role when Ball or Caldwell-Pope need a break, but both of these players have been averaging 33 minutes or more per game.

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Clarkson has stayed humble when asked about his lack of playing time, but he has to be somewhat frustrated with sitting on the bench given his explosive play this season. He is by far their most valuable scoring option off the bench, so it makes sense that Luke Walton should have him on the floor more often.