Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson. (Photo : Getty Images)
Incoming third-year pro Jordan Clarkson had recently expressed his desire to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers next season and he seemed unconcerned about his next contract with the club as he becomes a free agent this summer.
"I don't know. I'm not even looking at that kind of stuff," said the 24-year-old combo guard, as per the Los Angeles Daily News. "They (his agents) can take care of all the money stuff. I'm just here about basketball."
When asked regarding his contract, Clarkson was always quick to defer to his current agent, Omar Wilkes of Octagon, which is not necessarily a good or bad thing. What seems to be important to him is staying with the Hollywood squad for the foreseeable future and helping the team in any way he can at any role and whatever pay, something that is said to be a welcome development to general manager Mitch Kupchak.
"I will do anything a team asks me to do," the Filipino-American said. "If it's to come off the bench, I would impact the game by coming off the bench. If I were to start, I would impact the game as a starter. I would impact the game either way."
Clarkson was the Lakers second-leading scorer last season, next to the now retired Kobe Bryant, with 15.5 points per game. He also contributed averages of 4.0 rebounds (career-high), 2.4 assists, and 1.1 steals, which is a bargain considering the less than $850,000 salary he received from the club in the recent season.
Opting out in the second year of his rookie contract will surely help Clarkson with regards to him being properly compensated, but the former Tulsa and Missouri standout is noticeably nonchalant about it.
Call it immaturity or naïveté, but Clarkson is perhaps showing that he is "confident in himself and his future with the Lakers", according to SB Nation.
"Being here, them giving me the opportunity by drafting me at 46(th overall) and us having those two bad seasons, I definitely want to be around when stuff changes and we get to winning again," he said. "I've just had a good experience here, so I wouldn't want to leave and experience anything else."
