With draft day looming, players who attended the Los Angeles Lakers training camp have been drawing inspiration from the success story of Jordan Clarkson, who is seen to fill the team's needs at the crucial point guard position.
It's all but settled that the Los Angeles Lakers will either pick Karl Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor for its second pick, but six players are still hoping to be chosen for the team's 27th and 34th first round pick on June 25.
Penn State guard D.J. Newbill told the LA Times that Jordan Clarkson--who was picked at 46th-proved that it doesn't matter where you land, but how you play in the league.
"It's not where you start, it's all about where you finish," Newbill said. "That's a guy [Clarkson] right there you can tell he's got some grit because where he started at probably wasn't his ideal situation. But he turned it into something good for himself. He has a bright future."
Although he had a rough start, mostly because for lack of playing time, Jordan Clarkson flourished for the Los Angeles Lakers after the All-Star break when he averaged 15.8 points, 5 assists and 4.2 rebounds as a starter playing 38 games.
St John's guard Phil Greene also said of Jordan Clarkson, "It gives you a lot of hope seeing how great he played last year and how good he is. It just gives you a lot of hope of staying with the grind and knowing anything can happen."
Meanwhile, Jordan Clarkson is hoping to fill the huge hole at the point guard spot for the Los Angeles Lakers as Jeremy Lin is expected to leave via the free agency.
"Clarkson clearly improved as he got more comfortable down the stretch of his first NBA season, averaging 19.4 points, 6.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds in eight April contests," Bleacher Report noted. "
"The truth is the Lakers don't know for sure if Clarkson is the long-term solution at the point," the article added. "They can't be certain because they've only seen him start 38 NBA games in circumstances that made it hard to get a good read on his value."
