Lakers Believe They Can Trade Jordan Clarkson

The Lakers are confident they can unload Jordan Clarkson at some point to help with their pursuit of free agents next summer, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on the network’s Full Court Press special.

L.A. reportedly wants to be able to offer a pair of max contracts in July, with LeBron James and Paul George considered to be prime targets. To make that possible the team has to trim salaries, including Clarkson, who has two seasons left on the four-year, $50MM contract he signed in the summer of 2016. He will make $12.5MM next season and $13.4375MM in 2019/20.

“They believe they can trade Jordan Clarkson and get his money off,” Wojnarowski said. “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?”

A former starter, the fourth-year guard has adjusted to a reserve role over the past two seasons and has remained productive. He is averaging 13.8 points through 30 games and shooting a career-best 46% from the field.

To open two full-max slots, the Lakers will also have to get rid of Luol Deng, who has only appeared in one game this season and is owed $36.81MM over the next two years, along with Julius Randle, who will have a cap hold of roughly $12.5MM. L.A. may decide to stretch Deng’s contract after this season, which would make it count $7.362MM against the cap for each of the next five years.

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