Lakers Rumors: Three reasons it’s okay to trade KCP

It’s only fair to Jordan Clarkson

If there’s been one player that has actually lived up to their potential at this point in their career on the Lakers, it has to be Jordan Clarkson. He has thrived coming off the bench, and has been a consistent scoring presence in either surpassing 20 points or coming close nearly every game.

Clarkson also leads the Lakers in points per game, with 15.8 on average in just 22 minutes of playing time. What we’ve been missing, it seems, from how Clarkson has played is that he’s not going to make any excuses for a lack of performance, especially the moments he faces under pressure.

Kyle Kuzma got his starting opportunity after Larry Nance has had to miss time with an injury, and that has worked out well for the Lakers as well. Kuzma is second on the team in scoring, right behind Clarkson with 15.5 per game.

For comparison, Caldwell-Pope averages around 11 points per game. So giving CLarkson the runway to do damage with the starting lineup would likely give the Lakers an extra four points off the bat. He could do even better than he has been if the chemistry with the first unit is anything like we hope it could be.

Caldwell-Pope has 11 more minutes per game on the floor than Clarkson, and has yet to see his numbers come even close. Let’s not forget that Los Angeles also invested $50 million in Clarkson for a reason.

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Clarkson is that kind of player that can change the game if he’s in the right mindset. Caldwell-Pope hasn’t been nearly as much of a game-changer or x-factor as Clarkson, and for that reason, it would be better to see Clarkson get his due of starting minutes.