Lakers Trade Rumors: Wait until summer to trade Jordan Clarkson
By Keith Rivas
While there are plenty of Lakers trade rumors to eat up, how about doing something start with Jordan Clarkson for a change?
Dealing Julius Randle and/or Jordan Clarkson has been at the top of all of the Lakers trade rumors lately, and for good reason. Los Angeles would rather have cap space they can use to sign max deals in free agency than the services of Clarkson, and quite frankly, Randle hasn’t been a favorite of anybody’s and doesn’t appear like he has a long-term future playing in purple and gold.
It might seem more than likely, if not certain, that either Randle, Clarkson, or a combination of the two players will be on their way to somewhere else by the Feb. 8 deadline — but what if the Lakers pump the brakes completely?
ESPN has reported that the front office now has their eyes more realistically on who they grab in the 2019 summer class instead of putting all of their eggs in one basket for players like Paul George and LeBron James.
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The more you think about that move, the more it’s something that any Lakers fan can appreciate. It also helps give the front office of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka a little more credibility, as it seems like it’s been every summer that Los Angeles thinks they’re going to land all of the stars and then they fall short.
Well short.
Kristaps Porzingis is the latest in a string of all-star caliber players going down with gruesome and often season-ending injuries. Since the Lakers are so star driven, it would seem irresponsible of them to try and force a trade for a superstar with Clarkson involved if they’re just going to get someone who’s more prone to injuries than making it the length of the season.
And to be honest, I am surprised Blake Griffin isn’t hurt since heading to Detroit. You would think he’d be at the top of the list in something like this.
The bottom here is this — trading Jordan Clarkson now in an attempt to grab a star will give the Lakers a less valuable return than if they wait until the summer. This is when they can get a better idea of what other teams are ready to do and who they’re committing to signing, along with the intentions of players like Paul George.
Given that George’s intentions have remained mysterious past this season, this is an especially dangerous situation if they were to trade for him. All it would take is a little bit of chaos to make him uncomfortable for the second half of a regular season and then he could decide to re-sign with the Thunder or go to another team.
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And then from there, the Lakers are left back at square one. That’s somewhere they can’t afford to be if Johnson and Pelinka really plan on making this team great again.