Everything You Need to Know About Lakers Rookie Jordan Clarkson

Los Angeles Lakers fans thought a good draft night was over after Julius Randle was nabbed at No. 7 but they were wrong. Management went ahead and purchased the draft rights to the Washington Wizards’ No. 46 pick and selected Jordan Clarkson—once called a "Ninja Blender" for his ability to slice and dice:



Welcome to L.A., rookie! The Lakers backcourt just got deeper and stealthier.

Last November, Missouri’s Clarkson dumped 31 points on the Southern Illinois Salukis. After the game, Matt Muenzberg of Mizzou's The Maneater quoted opposing coach Barry Hinson as saying, “He was a Ninja Blender, he was in the lane so much tonight. It was unbelievable. He just kicked our ass. Every time we came out on him, he just went around us.”

The 6’5” point guard has blow-by speed and a phantom presence—able to get around defenders virtually untouched.

Clarkson was regarded as a late first-round pick, but on the night of the draft, he started dropping. At the same time, the Lakers were trying to buy another bite at the apple to pair with their earlier lottery selection. 

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak expressed his enthusiasm for the new ball-handling guard later that night:

He's got great size. Good athlete. Really good size. Good defender. Excels probably at attacking the rim. Maybe not as good of a shooter, probably, as he will be when he works on it. He left school a year early. He transferred. So, I'm sure he was thinking that maybe he would get drafted higher and maybe he has a chip on his shoulder—an expression you've heard today—to come out and prove something. But we liked his size and we liked his skill at that position. 

McMenamin also relayed Clarkson’s description of what it was like to drop on draft night: 

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