After finalizing a trade for Roy Hibbert, the Los Angeles Lakers have likely wrapped up free agency with just a slim chance of any other moves happening. With that, the team can begin to evaluate where players are at and set their starting lineups for the future. Youth will be a key factor for the Lakers this season as they have several young players looking to make names for themselves. With that will come position battles and the point guard spot is one to watch.
The Lakers have struggled at point guard over the past few seasons. They signed Steve Nash with the intent that he was going to be the star, but injuries kept him off the court more times than not. Then they brought on Jeremy Lin which was also a failed experiment, but it led to the breakout second-half from then-rookie Jordan Clarkson who is now battling with D'Angelo Russell for court time.
According to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, Russell and Clarkson are sharing court time while competeing at Summer League. Clarkson was hoping to have the starting job this upcoming season, but Russell coming onto the team throws a twist in that plan. The Lakers looked at Russell as a potential franchise player and Clarkson can see why, but he fully intends to battle the rookie for the job.
"He can pass the hell out of the ball," Clarkson said, via ESPN.com. "He was able to move the ball well and it makes the game a lot easier for everybody. It's good running with him." "It's going to be a competition. We're going to compete. But at the end of the day, we're playing together and [at] summer league, whoever gets the ball off the rim, we're pushing it. We're trying to play fast, get up and down, get easy shots. And then defensively, we're just long and able to guard multiple guys. It's going to be fun."
The Lakers were not thrilled by how their free agency ended up turning out. Hoping to get a few marquee players with their salary cap money, the Lakers were forced to settle for players like Brandon Bass, Lou Williams and Roy Hibbert who were likely their Plan C options. Trade deals could still take place as Nick Young or Robert Sacre could become available for players like Brendan Haywood. The bigger picture is that the Lakers set themselves up well for moves next offseason that will likely include chasing Kevin Durant. General manager Mitch Kupchak made it clear he is not disappointed in the moves Los Angeles made and did not make.
"Each summer is its own thing," Kupchak said, via ESPN.com. "For the veteran free agents, they're looking, clearly, for a situation where they feel they fit best, and most of the time that's to win right away. And the last two summers, we were not a team that I think they felt -- and I would agree -- that could contend for a championship. So we take each summer by itself, and I'm hopeful that our players get another year under their belt this year and we become a team that has a core of players with some experience that maybe free agents down the road will look at and say, 'Hey, I want to play with those guys.'"
