The title of the show alone makes the jokes easy. The Walking Dead. Just like the 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers! Technically alive, sort of, but not really!
The more ambitious can stretch that metaphor like Laffy Taffy in any number of directions. The Lakers can be walkers, animated in body but not soul, just waiting to be brained by the living, except those creatures are relentless and very dangerous. So maybe the Lakers are those totally non-threatening walkers Michonne de-jawed and leashed. The better comparison is to Rick’s crew, and every other living soul, existing day to day under the constant threat of consumption by an overwhelming force, where even the most monumental victories seem totally pointless in the grand scheme of things. Nothing in that world ends well for anyone, nothing in this one has ended well for the Lakers. At some point, Nick Young is going to stagger into the locker room, clothes tattered like a model in a Kanye fashion show. Nobody will pay the rags any mind (Swaggy being Swaggy) or notice the limp (knee injury).
BAM! He eats everyone inside.
Kinda depressing, no? I just hope I’m not working that game.
For a more hopeful post-apocalyptic Hollywood metaphor, though, try Wall-E.
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The Earth is an unpopulated wasteland in which a lone, leftover robot doggedly-but-pointlessly stacks trash into giant towers while piling up remnants of a once-thriving planet. Hard work predestined to amount to nothing, kind of like Byron Scott’s crew this year, losing game after game despite consistently solid effort, all in the shadow of the banners hanging above them. Then, in a world thought lost, a single plant is found. A green spring of hope that must be preserved at all costs so that humanity — or the Lakers — might restore what’s been lost.
We call that plant “Jordan Clarkson.” And he’s getting a ton of attention.
For one thing, he’s played extremely well. Since the All-Star break, Clarkson has averaged 15.6 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.8 rebounds a night (through Sunday) and upped his field goal percentage by over .100 points. His court awareness has improved, both in terms of distributing over scoring and a better defensive awareness. By the standards of any rookie, he’s been rock solid, good enough to land on the NBA’s All-Rookie squad. Judged by draft position (46th) Clarkson is a revelation.
Given how virtually nothing else on the floor has been an unadulterated positive — even Kobe Bryant’s big early season numbers came with the low efficiency caveat — excitement over Clarkson’s performance has prompted some big questions about his impact on the team going forward. Is he the point guard of the future? Do they need to draft one this summer? Sign one? Is Clarkson a product of context, a good enough player putting up inflated numbers on a terrible team?
CONTINUE READING: Build Around Or With Jordan Clarkson? Who Cares, Just Build…
Since the first days of positive contributions from the rook, Byron Scott has actively tried to pump the brakes on Clarkson hype, to keep both expectations and the rook’s ego from ballooning out of control. “I do know that this kid will be on our team next year,” Scott said following Friday’s loss to Portland, a game in which Clarkson (27 points, 12-20 shooting) was the only thing keeping the Lakers competitive in what would become a 30-point loss. Nice to hear, but that part everyone had already figured out.
It’s fun to kick around what Clarkson might be, and I’m sure the Lakers would appreciate a crystal ball providing a definitive answer. After 33 games as a starting guard, it’s obvious the kid has NBA talent. To what end, though, it’s impossible to say. The good news is that the answer, no matter where it lands on the scale of successful NBA players, shouldn’t limit what the Lakers ought to do this summer.
They can draft a point and sign another, particularly if either/both can defend 2’s, and be set with their three-guard rotation of the future. Drafting a center doesn’t preclude them from signing another big. The Lakers ought to be in the business of accumulating as many talented players as possible, and if the fit isn’t perfect, that can be solved down the road. But too many things can change in the time between when the Lakers are building to become good and actually get there for them to be overly concerned with roster construction now. Get as many good, young players as possible, sort the rest out later.
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No thank you.
This year’s line-jumping Melo figure is Rajon Rondo, an aging player heading down the productivity mountain rather than up. Yes, he has championship experience and name branding, but everything about him over the last three seasons suggests a player in decline… and he won’t come cheap.
Again, no thank you.
The Lakers instead are fortunate to be in a place where they can play a version of NBA Tinder. They’re swiping left and right, sifting through the chaff to locate the wheat. This lottery pick can truly be anything they want it to be. They’re not limited by preexisting roster considerations, and shouldn’t make themselves feel that way over a guy who hasn’t played a full season’s worth of games, nor spent a day in the NBA playing next to the quality teammates the Lakers ultimately hope to surround him (and Randle) with. Clarkson might turn out to be a quality rotation player. Maybe he’s a high octane, instant-offense sixth man. Maybe a solid starter, or even an All-Star. It’s too early to tell.
All the Lakers need to know: Clarkson represents a home run with the 46th pick. The problem for now isn’t figuring out whether it’s a solo shot or a grand slam, it’s that don’t have other guys they can send to the plate.
[divide]Lakers Rookie Jordan Clarkson Nears Triple-Double, Says Kobe Bryant Told Him