Getty Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with his teammate Jordan Clarkson.
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson knows a thing or two about being traded, particularly trades involving LeBron James. During the 2017-18 season, Clarkson was shipped off alongside Larry Nance Jr. to the Cavaliers in order to help give James’ aging roster a shot of youth.
While Clarkson helped LeBron reach yet another NBA Finals, Cleveland fell and LeBron subsequently took his talents to the same Laker team he poached Nance and Clarkson from just months prior. As a young rising star who has lived the trade rumor mill first hand, Clarkson shared some words of wisdom with young Laker Kyle Kuzma.
Former Lakers Player Hilariously Tells Kyle Kuzma to ‘Pack his Bags’
From Clarkson’s perspective, it would seem he thinks that Kuzma is almost certainly on the way out of the door in a deal for Anthony Davis. Calling himself the 6’5″ Kuzma, one can draw a few comparisons between the two players. Similar to Kuzma, Clarkson was once late first round steal that developed into a promising young talent for the Lakers.
Both players enjoyed breakout rookie seasons in Los Angeles but while Clarkson seemed to stagnate in his development, Kuzma has only continued to improve – except with that pesky three-point percentage.
However, coming from a player with firsthand knowledge of what it is like to be shipped off from the Lakers organization, Clarkson’s words should hold at least a LITTLE bit of weight here – regardless of if it was a joke or not.
Jordan Clarkson 2019-20 Cavaliers Outlook
Jordan Clarkson is heading into the second to last year of his (somewhat pricey) contract on the Cavaliers – courtesy of the Lakers.
However, without many other options to turn to, Clarkson has proven to be a very useful role player for the tanking Cavs. A quality bench scorer who can be relied on to get buckets for the second unit, Clarkson is looking to build on last year’s solid bounce-back campaign.
With not much expected to happen with the Cavaliers’ roster for the time being, expect Clarkson to continue to see his steady diet of 25-30 minutes per night where he chips in somewhere around 15 points per game to go with a couple rebounds and assists.
While those numbers don’t necessarily justify his $12 million salary cap hit, the Cavs are in no rush to accelerate their rebuild and can afford to eat the last two years of his deal before either bringing him back on a more team-friendly option or simply just letting Clarkson walk.