8:36pm: It is still unknown whether Clarkson’s contract is fully, partially, or non-guaranteed, but the total deal is for two years at the minimum salary, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders.
4:26pm: The Lakers have signed rookie Jordan Clarkson, according to a team release. Clarkson was the 46th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, acquired by Los Angeles from the Wizards on draft night.
Terms of the deal weren’t announced, but it is presumably for the minimum, considering the Lakers are above the cap and have no exceptions to use. The 6’5″ guard averaged 15.8 PPG, 1.2 APG and 5.0 RPG for the Lakers in Summer League, with a slash line of .424/.421/.882 after putting up 17.5 PPG, 3.4 APG, and 3.8 RPG with a .501./281./831 slash line in his junior season with Missouri.
Clarkson’s path to minutes in Los Angeles will be affected by Steve Nash‘s health and how coach Byron Scott determines to use his roster. Scott was open to using Clarkson as a ball-handler when interviewed by Mike Trudell of Lakers.com. Jeremy Lin, Nash, and Kobe Bryant stand as the guards ahead of Clarkson on the roster, with a handful of guard/forward wing players established in front of him as well.
finally