NBA Rumors: Lakers believe they can trade Jordan Clarkson to open cap space
NBA Rumors: The Los Angeles Lakers believe they can move Jordan Clarkson after the season to open cap space, if needed
The Los Angeles Lakers have big plans for next summer, especially considering they’re going to have a ton of cap space.
The likes of LeBron James, Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Paul and others will be on the open market. And you can bet that the Lakers will be on full pursuit. However, if LA really wants to be game-changers this summer, watch for them to pursue two max free agents.
However, in order to do so, they’re likely going to have to cut some salary off their sheet. One of the potential cap casualty is Jordan Clarkson, who the Lakers feel confident that they can trade at any moment. And if LA has it their way, they’d rather trade him after the season instead of before the NBA Trade Deadline.
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"[via ESPN, Transcribed by Lakers Nation]“They believe they can trade Jordan Clarkson and get his money off. They prefer not to do it at the trade deadline. Clarkson has helped them win games this year, and because they don’t have their pick, they want to win as many games as they can. So I think there’s some confidence there that they can find a deal for Clarkson after the season, to get his money off. But there’s got to be a sequencing here. And it gets back to, are they going to chase one max-salary slot, or two?”"
Clarkson is averaging 14 points, three rebounds and three assists on 46 percent shooting from the field and 34 percent shooting from 3-point range. Perhaps most importantly, he’s only 25 years old and probably hasn’t even played his best basketball of his career yet.
It’s easy to see why the Lakers would be so confident in the fact that they could trade him at any given moment. Plus, his contract isn’t that expensive either. Clarkson is only due $25 million over the next two seasons. He’s making just $11.5 million this year.
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LA could probably get something decent in exchange, too. A first-round pick would be a given.
The Lakers have plenty of flexibility over the course of the next few months, which could put them in an ideal spot heading into the big summer.