Rumor: Charlotte Hornets interested in trading for Jordan Clarkson
The Charlotte Hornets are reportedly eyeing a potential deal with the Lakers that would bring Jordan Clarkson to the Queen City.
According to BlastingNews.com, the Charlotte Hornets are a possible suitor for Jordan Clarkson. The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly looking to move the 25-year old point guard this season. The Brooklyn Nets and the Portland Trail Blazers were also mentioned as potential landing spots for Clarkson.
The article from BlastingNews.com says that “Per sources close to situation, the Lakers are already at the exploratory stage with several teams for a potential deal centered on Clarkson. No deal is imminent at the moment, but negotiations tend to gain more traction days before the trade deadline. The Blazers, Hornets and Nets are considered possible suitors for Clarkson.” Looking at the three teams that were named, all of them could use point guard depth. Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell are both injured for Brooklyn while Portland doesn’t have a reliable option behind Damian Lillard.
As for Charlotte, Michael Carter-Williams is a serviceable backup point guard but hasn’t exactly been outstanding when filling in for Kemba Walker. All three of the Hornets’ point guards (Kemba, MCW, and Julyan Stone) have been injured at some point this season making that spot a position of needed depth for the team.
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If a deal could be completed, Clarkson would probably be used as the primary backup to Walker. He could be a sixth man and potentially play a role like Jeremy Lin did when he was with the team in 2015-16. Considering that MCW is only shooting 26% from the field this season, Jordan would be a significant upgrade and help strengthen Charlotte’s bench.
Clarkson has recently become a bit unsettled under Luke Walton as the 6’5 guard is unhappy with his current role/minutes so it makes sense as to why the Lakers would want to deal him. (BleacherReport.com) According to Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports, Los Angeles has been looking to trade Jordan since June.
So far this season, the fourth-year player is averaging 15.3 points, 3.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. Clarkson is also shooting 49.1% from the field, 37% from three and 75.4% from the free throw line. He is arguably a leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year as he has come off of the bench in every game this year.
After this season, Jordan Clarkson has two more years on his current deal and is set to make $12.5 million in 2018-19 and $13.4 million during the 2019-10 season. Looking at the Hornets’ player salaries, it would be a bit challenging to make the contracts match in a trade but it isn’t impossible and would depend on what LA wants and what Charlotte is willing to give up.
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NOTE: Because this source isn’t as reliable as Woj, Stein, Bleacher Report or ESPN, I would take this rumor with a grain of salt. While it could be true, and it would make sense that the Hornets are interested in Clarkson, it’s far from being 100% confirmed. It will be interesting to see if Rich Cho does attempt to make a move for Jordan before the February 8th trade deadline this season.