Jordan Clarkson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Griffin, West, Clarkson

December 19th, 2016 at 4:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers confirmed Blake Griffin‘s knee surgery in a press release posted this afternoon on the team’s website. The operation to remove loose bodies from his right knee will be performed Tuesday, and he is expected to be out of action three to six weeks. Griffin is averaging 21.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists through 26 games.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

L.A. is in better shape to withstand Griffin’s absence than it was a year ago, contends Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. When Griffin was sidelined with a broken hand and a quad injury after Christmas of 2015, Paul Pierce took his place in the starting lineup and DeAndre Jordan assumed a larger role in the offense, averaging 14.1 points and 14.3 rebounds in the games without Griffin. The Clippers signed free agents Brandon Bass and Marreese Speights during the offseason, either of whom could start at power forward. Also, Pierce is still around, Luc Mbah a Moute can guard bigger forwards and Austin Rivers could be moved into the starting lineup.
The operation may impact Griffin’s future earnings, suggests ESPN’s Kevin Pelton. Under the tentative CBA, Griffin needs to make an all-NBA team at the end of the season to qualify for the newly created designated veteran player exception. An absence of three to six weeks will certainly reduce his chances. Players who qualify can earn up to 35% of the cap if they remain with their current team. Griffin would be limited to 30% if he doesn’t qualify, which translates to about $30MM over a five-year contract.
The Warriors’ David West will be out for a while with a hip pointer, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The veteran forward underwent an MRI on Friday after suffering the injury in a game last week. Golden State had been concerned that the injury was something more serious.
Jordan Clarkson didn’t complain about moving to the bench after signing a four-year, $50MM contract with the Lakers, but he hasn’t thrived in his new role, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Clarkson, whose starting job was taken by Nick Young, has shot just 39.8% over his last 10 games. “Coach wants me to be aggressive,” Clarkson said. “That’s what I try to do every night when I’m out there on the floor. But at the same time, I have to figure out what’s a good shot and a bad shot.”

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Temple, Warriors, Suns

November 22nd, 2016 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Jordan Clarkson nearly didn’t became a Laker on draft night in 2014, according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, who writes that the team had a “real, down-to-the-wire temptation” to select former Louisville guard Russ Smith with the second-round pick that was ultimately used on Clarkson. Lakers layer personnel director Ryan West and Jesse Buss were high on Clarkson, which helped to tip the scales, per Ding.

The tidbit on Clarkson and Smith is part of a larger piece examining how the Lakers acquired their current core players. As Ding observes, for several years, the Lakers were focused on building their roster by carrying roster-filling players to maximize cap room, then pursuing top free agents. However, the club has moved away from that approach over the last couple years, focusing instead on accumulating young talent.

Here’s more from around the Pacific division:

Garrett Temple, one of a few veteran free agents who signed with the Kings this summer, has impressed the team on and off the court, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details. “There’s nothing negative I could ever say about him,” DeMarcus Cousins said of his new teammate. “He’s a guy I love to talk to. He sits next to me in the locker room. He’s a positive guy at all times. Got to love guys like that.”
Golden State is now among the top five teams in the NBA in blocked shots per game, and concerns about the Warriors‘ rim protection appear to have quieted down over the course of their eight-game winning streak, writes Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group.
The Suns have one of the NBA’s youngest starting lineups, which Devin Booker views as a positive sign for the future, according to Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. “Everybody is getting experience,” Booker said. “Everybody is getting a chance to play, so it should be good for us.”
Earlier today, we passed along comments from Clippers stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, who said the duo’s relationship is “better now than ever.” Read the full story here.

Lakers Notes: Young, Walton, Clarkson

November 12th, 2016 at 5:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

After spending the summer hearing rumors that he might be waived, Nick Young has become an important part of the Lakers’ starting lineup, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. Young, who often clashed with former coach Byron Scott, jokes that he thought he would be released and playing in China by now. Instead he has been L.A.’s starter at shooting guard for the season’s first nine games, and he’s producing well enough to keep the job. Young is averaging 14.7 points per night and shooting 37% from 3-point range. New coach Luke Walton says he has also become the team’s best perimeter defender. “This is most definitely a redemption year,” said Young, who is under contract through the 2017/18 season. “That’s why I’ve been working so hard, I believe in myself, believe that I’ve got talent. There were just certain situations that made me take steps backwards.”

There’s more news out of Los Angeles:

Walton has been the reason for the Lakers’ hot start, contends Mark Heisler of The Orange County Register. The columnist points out that the roster hasn’t changed much from last season’s 17-65 group. L.A. signed free agents Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov over the offseason, but the real reason for the Lakers’ success is the improvement of players like Young, Lou Williams and the young core of D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. Heisler says that can be traced to Walton and the offense he brought over from Golden State.
Walton knows a few things about creating an effective reserve unit for the Lakers, writes Mark Medina of The Orange County Register. Walton was part of the “Bench Mob” on successful L.A. teams nearly a decade ago, and he has infused that same attitude into this year’s squad. “It was an identity we built for ourselves,” Walton said. “We hope that they take pride and build their own identity. What they’re doing is special right now.” A key part of that unit is Clarkson, who has accepted a reserve role after signing a four-year, $50MM deal over the summer. Clarkson ranks seventh in scoring among NBA bench players with 14.2 points per game.

Pacific Notes: Cousins, Suns, Kings, Clarkson

October 27th, 2016 at 10:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kings center DeMarcus Cousins appears to be bonding with new coach Dave Joerger, a stark contrast to his well-publicized issues with former coach George Karl, according to Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Cousins expressed to Jones that they like each other, adding he appreciates Joerger’s straightforward approach and even-keeled personality. “I think what he brought to the team is what this team needed,” Cousins told Jones. “It fits our identity more than how we played in the past. Not to knock any of the previous situations but I think this situation fits this team the best.” Cousins’ relationship with his new coach will carefully watched, particularly if the season starts to go sour once again in Sacramento.

In other developments around the Pacific Division:

Suns coach Earl Watson will insert a pair of rookies, point guard Tyler Ulis and power forward Dragan Bender, into the second unit to replace veterans Leandro Barbosa and P.J. Tucker, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. Watson decided to make the change after an opening-night loss to the Kings. They will join Brandon Knight, fellow rookie Marquese Chriss and Alex Len on that unit, Coro adds. “To me, they play with the most heart,” Watson told Coro. “Heart gets rewarded.”
The Kings’ brass told NBA Commissioner Adam Silver they want to host the 2020 All-Star Game, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com tweets. No formal application has been made but their desire to host that game was made clear as Silver toured the Kings’ new Golden 1 Center, Howard-Cooper adds.
Combo guard Jordan Clarkson is not fazed by his new role as the Lakers’ sixth man, Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times relays. The former starter had 23 second-half points and three steals in their opening-night win over the Rockets. “He’s been absolutely great,” Walton told Ganguli. “I’ve talked to him about starting or coming off the bench; he’s been good with both. It’s nice to have guys like that on your team.”

Western Notes: Clarkson, Hayward, McCollum

October 18th, 2016 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

It’s unclear if Jordan Clarkson will be in the starting lineup or coming off the bench for the Lakers this season, but regardless of his role, the guard needs to continue to improve his defense, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes. “We watch tape at our coach’s retreat and they gave us the analytics on him defensively, and he was not good last year at defense. He was not good,” coach Luke Walton said. “He’s been maybe our most consistent perimeter defender since the start of camp. A big part of defense. if you’re going to play it on every possession, is enjoying the idea of trying to get stops and trying to make it hard on your guy,” Walton said. “He’s a year older, who knows what it is, but he’s done a great job for us.”

Clarkson acknowledges he had some improvements to make over last season’s version of himself, Pincus notes. “All defense is, is taking angles, finding a spot where to cut somebody off, using your chest,” Clarkson said. “Some of that stuff had to come in the weight room. I got stronger this summer. I just put in a lot of work.”

Here’s more from out West:

Gordon Hayward can opt out of his current deal after the season, but Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey said during an interview on Sirius XM Radio today that he is confident the team will re-sign the forward. “For us I think, as much as anything, we need to be ourselves with Gordon, need to be authentic and real and then he’s going to have a decision to make. But fundamentally, if we do the right things here… Let’s just be honest, we have an advantage by having his Bird rights. There’s a lot of money associated with the fifth year and higher raises,” Lindsey said. Hayward’s player option for 2017/18 is worth $16,736,710, but he’ll almost assuredly command well over that amount on the open market.
Blazers point guard Damian Lillard believes that Portland will be a contender for the Western Conference crown this season, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes. “It’s a lot of tough teams in the West,” Lillard said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh we can go right up in there and it’s going to be easy.’ But I feel like we’re one of the teams that’s right there in the mix. Obviously, you’ve got teams like Golden State and San Antonio, the teams that everybody talks about. Obviously, they’ll be good, but I feel like we could jump right up there and get in the mix with them.”
Lillard’s backcourt partner, C.J. McCollum, who inked a maximum salary extension this summer with the Blazers, has the proper makeup not to let the distractions that accompany such a major financial windfall affect his play, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical writes in his profile of the player.

And-Ones: Rose, Clarkson, Silas

October 8th, 2016 at 10:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Derrick Rose won’t fly back and forth from Los Angeles, where he is currently defending himself in a civil trial, to play in the Knicks‘ preseason games, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets. Rose has no team personnel with him, Lewis adds. “He’s got his own guys,” a source tells Lewis.

Here’s more from around the league:

Lakers coach Luke Walton applauded Jordan Clarkson‘s defense and he envisions the combo guard having a major role off the bench this season, Joey Ramirez of NBA.com writes. “I don’t look at [Clarkson’s role] as really coming off the bench as much as the way Lamar came off our bench but he was really a starter,” Walton said. “He played big minutes, played the end of ball games. Ginobili [also] did it for years in San Antonio.”
Chris Mannix of the Vertical believes Stephen Silas will get his turn to become a head coach in this league, as he opines on Twitter. Silas has been an assistant coach for the Hornets since 2010.
New Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni is making defense a priority, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. D’Antoni and assistant coach Jeff Bzlelik are looking for accountability from their players on that end of the floor. “Yeah, it’s a lot of things,” Bzdelik said. “You can’t let what happens on offense dictate your defensive energy. Defense needs to be constant, offense is a variable. It’s a mindset more so than anything else, to take it personal when you get scored upon.”

Pacific Notes: Chandler, Clarkson, Garnett

September 30th, 2016 at 9:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Veteran center Tyson Chandler isn’t upset that the Suns selected two big men (Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss) in the first round of this year’s NBA Draft, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “I thought it was good for the future to be quite honest,” Chandler said. “I thought that was where we lacked last year – at power forward. We’ve already got young guards with all the shooting in the world so we needed to build on that side of the ball. That’s what I came here for. That’s my job, to help hand the leadership off. It’s even that much more important for me to teach them how things are supposed to be done. I want to be part of this franchise getting back to the glory days. I feel like I’m definitely going to tap into it. I feel like we’ll be better than people expect. Just the competition. If we play like we’ve been playing out here, that’s good enough for me.”

Here’s more out of the Pacific Division:

The Lakers want to push Jordan Clarkson, who inked a four-year, $50MM deal this summer, to become a better defender, Mark Medina of The Orange County Register writes. The guard has embraced the challenge that new coach Luke Walton has given him for the season, Medina adds. “I was just terrible on that end, taking wrong angles, wasn’t there on tags and wasn’t there on late closeouts,” Clarkson said of his 2015/16 performance. “It got to the point where it was bad. We were a bad defensive team as a whole last year. But I take it upon myself really to improve on that.”
Kevin Garnett attending the Clippers‘ practice on Thursday and he worked with a number of the team’s big men, Jovan Buha of ESPN.com relays. “KG was phenomenal today,” coach Doc Rivers said of Garnett’s appearance. “This morning, before practice, he had a teaching clinic that you would pay a lot of money to see. It was great. It was great for Blake Griffin and [DeAndre Jordan] and the young guys as well. It’s great to have him around. He’s a great teacher. We know him as a great player. I knew him as a great teacher. He’ll be really good for us.” Garnett reportedly has been offered a coaching position with Los Angeles, as well as with the Cavs.
Despite the presence of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors want Kevin Durant to feel comfortable and to not pass up open shots, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com writes. “That’s why they wanted me here! They want me to come out here and be myself. I’m not going to play timid or not step on anyone’s toes, but I’m still going to be myself,” Durant said. “Nobody’s telling me I’m shooting too much. They want me to be myself out there.“

Lakers Ink Jordan Clarkson To Four-Year Deal

July 7th, 2016 at 7:17pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7th, 7:17pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

JULY 1st, 2:57am: Jordan Clarkson will remain a Laker, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that Los Angeles has reached a contract agreement with the free agent guard. Per Charania, the Lakers will re-sign Clarkson to a four-year, $50MM contract.

Clarkson, 24, enjoyed a breakout season for the Lakers in 2015/16, starting 79 games for the club and averaging 15.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.1 SPG, to go along with a .433/.347/.804 shooting line. He received a qualifying offer from Los Angeles, making him a restricted free agent giving the team the right of first refusal, but his comments in recent weeks suggested he never intended to leave the Lakers.

“We had two tough years, but I don’t want to be a guy that is afraid and will run away from challenges,” Clarkson said in early June. “I want to be a part of the situation when it turns around because I was here when it was down. I never want to leave.”

The Lakers’ agreement with Clarkson is the second deal the team has struck during the first few hours of free agency. Earlier on Friday, Los Angeles agreed to terms on a four-year contract with center Timofey Mozgov.

Clarkson ranked 20th on Hoops Rumors’ list of this year’s top 50 free agents, while Mozgov was No. 45.

Qualifying Offers: Clarkson, Dellavedova, Galloway

June 30th, 2016 at 8:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him. The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s service time and previous contract status. A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then receives the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club. You can read more about qualifying offers here.

Here’s the latest QO activity from around the league:

The Cavaliers tendered point guard Matthew Dellavedova a qualifying offer worth $1,434,095, making him a restricted free agent, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Lakers have submitted qualifying offers to Jordan Clarkson ($2,725,003), Tarik Black ($1,180,431) and Marcelo Huertas ($1,074,636) making all three restricted free agents, but declined to tender one to Ryan Kelly ($2,155,313), making him an unrestricted free agent, Pincus tweets.
The Knicks submitted a qualifying offer to guard Langston Galloway ($2,725,003), but declined to do so for forward Cleanthony Early ($1,180,431), making him an unrestricted free agent, Pincus relays (via Twitter).

Sixers Rumors: Free Agency, Rubio, Beverley

June 29th, 2016 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have generally steered clear of the free agent market, particularly when it comes to high-priced players, during their lengthy rebuilding process, but that approach could change this year. The team reportedly has “serious” interest in Harrison Barnes, who may be in line for a max contract, and agents who have spoken to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News suggest there’s a different vibe around the team this summer.

“By all indications, they’re going to be aggressive, and I think once you get past that first tier of free agents, you are going to have a perfect storm in Philadelphia that is going to make players want to go there,” one agent told Deveney. “Brett Brown is a good coach. They’ve got money. They’ve got playing time available. I mean, it couldn’t be a more different situation than what we’re used to.”

Here’s more on the Sixers, via Deveney:

More on the Sixers, from another player agent: “I’ve got guys who tell me they want to going there. I mean, excited to go there. It’s a different approach.”
Philadelphia isn’t expected to pursue top-tier free agents like Al Horford, but the team will be willing to gamble on young guards and wing players who could command large salaries, like Barnes. A source confirmed to Deveney that the Sixers do indeed plan to show interest in Dion Waiters and Allen Crabbe, as we’ve heard this week.
Evan Fournier and Jordan Clarkson are two more free agents who may receive consideration from the 76ers, but both players are restricted FAs and will be difficult to pry away from their current teams, writes Deveney.
The Sixers are expected to pursue “one or more point guards” on the trade market, according to Deveney, who says the team explored a possible deal for Ricky Rubio on draft night. Such a deal would have had to be a three-way trade to get the Timberwolves the veteran help they were seeking.
Per Deveney, Philadelphia has also expressed some trade interest in Patrick Beverley, whom the Rockets have reportedly shopped.