With the rumors of the Los Angeles Lakers listening to trade offers for Jordan Clarkson, would the Chicago Bulls be interested in acquiring the 24-year-old guard? Here’s more on why they shouldn’t be … unless he’s a rebuilding trade piece.
Second-round picks in the NBA Draft usually don’t have impactful NBA careers on average, unless you’re Jordan Clarkson and a Los Angeles Lakers franchise that hasn’t tried to win games since they tried to convince Dwight Howard to stay all those years ago.
Clarkson hasn’t set the world on fire by any means, but he’s gotten a fair shake during his three seasons in Los Angeles as a combo guard. Still, with the Lakers keeping their pick at No. 2 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft and their sights likely set on drafting homegrown guard Lonzo Ball from UCLA, Clarkson could be the odd man out for the Lakers next season.
According to a report from Huffington Post Sports columnist Jordan Schultz, the Lakers are “actively seeking out offers” for the third-year guard who was drafted 46th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Earlier in the offseason, we hit on “Jimmy Butler Trade Ideas That Probably Won’t Happen” and the Lakers were one of the teams featured in the mini series we did on trade ideas for Butler that probably wouldn’t occur. Hilariously enough, Clarkson wasn’t featured either of the offers we presented when a report came about that teams were evaluating trade packages for Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell.
Here’s the thing with Clarkson: he’s a solid, younger option, but there’s a few reasons why he’s probably the first to go in a deal out of the Lakers’ younger pieces. If the Bulls were to move for Clarkson, it would have to be for more than just him.
The Bulls already have sub-35 percent shooting from 3-point range on their roster
In three seasons with the Lakers, Clarkson has shot 797 total 3-point attempts. He’s made 266 of them. That’s 33.4 percent overall. The best season Clarkson has shot from deep was two seasons ago in 2015-16 when he shot 34.7 percent.
Sure, it’s the Lakers and they haven’t been in the postseason (nor trying to make the postseason) since 2012-13, but Fred Hoiberg already has plenty of guys that can’t shoot in his rotation, so why add another one?
I mean, the Bulls already have enough guards that can't shoot, so a Jordan Clarkson is probably just what the doctor ordered. pic.twitter.com/ioCSGllVZG
— Michael Whitlow (@couldbelikemike) June 3, 2017
The Lakers are mostly negatives with so much youth and that includes Clarkson
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that every Laker that played over 500 minutes this past season had a defensive rating of over 111. That’s what happens when a team isn’t trying to win ballgames and to keep their pick in the next draft lottery.
Clarkson played more minutes than anyone on the Los Angeles roster last season (2,397 total minutes) and had a -8.9 net rating on the season; fourth-worst on the Lakers roster among qualified players (that played more than 500 minutes). He was one of six Lakers that had a defensive rating of more than 112, which once again, shouldn’t surprise anyone with the franchise looking to lose more than they won in Luke Walton’s first season at the helm.
Being a negative carries over to the offensive side of the floor too, where Clarkson had a turnover percentage of 15.3 last season. He’s more of a scorer than a creator, which the Bulls don’t exactly have a lot of creators (or scorers for that matter) at the moment.
The only guard on the Laker roster that had a worst percentage than that on the roster was former Bulls great Jose Calderon (yes, the same Jose Calderon the Bulls traded after acquiring him in the Derrick Rose deal) in his 292 total minutes on the floor.
A few factors that would have to be on the table for the Bulls if they thought about making a deal
- Here’s why the Bulls probably won’t be in play for Jordan Clarkson: there’s a great chance that this past season’s Bulls will get another run. Chicago Tribune Bulls beat reporter K.C. Johnson touched on that after Jimmy Butler‘s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this past week.
- Like what was noted before in the trade piece with Butler: the Lakers probably want to see what their young pieces can really do and what they really are. The Bulls are in the same spot with their youth, meaning that they probably won’t be inclined to make a move for a questionable young piece like Clarkson.
“Our expectation is our young guys will have a more consistent role, a more defined, consistent role,” John Paxson said after the Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs. “I firmly believe and I think Gar does too that as a young player, the only way we can find out anything about them, they can find out about themselves, is to have consistency.”
- The Bulls already have guards that aren’t consistent shooters and struggle on the defensive end of the floor. Clarkson has played three seasons with a slumping franchise, but really hasn’t stood out among the youth on the Lakers roster.
- If you’re going to make a move for Clarkson, you’re either likely cancelling yourself out by moving some of the youth that didn’t get a “consistent role” last season or starting completely over with a move involving Butler (who resides in Los Angeles in the offseason), which is even less likely to happen.
Jordan Clarkson fits the “younger and more athletic” mantra that the Bulls front office preached before the start of last season.
Next: 2017 NBA Draft Prospects: Creighton's Justin Patton
But, if the Bulls are going to go after a former second-round pick that may or may not be a good player in the future, why not just wait for the draft to address their guard situation instead of moving pieces that you already have a better sense of (and that really haven’t impressed) with a larger sample size?