NBA Rumors: Laker's Jordan Clarkson Might Take Lesser Role from Next Season

Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson, 23, will become a free agents this summer. He is a scorer and versatile.

Lately Byron Scott told Jordan Clarkson if he doesn't improve defensively he won't play next season even if he stays with the Lakers. “If we get the right players in here and if he doesn’t do it, he won’t play much,” Scott said of Clarkson. “It’s that simple.”

Regardless of Byron's pressuring message to Jordan Clarkson, the Lakers guard do want to stay in the team according to Los Angeles Daily News "I feel confident I'll be back here. I want to be here," Clarkson said. "I want to be one of those guys that is not bouncing around from team to team. I want to be somewhere where I can come home and leave my mark or legacy or somewhere I can call home. I feel like this is the place I can do that." said Clarkson.

Clarkson has already openly admitted that he was not good on the defensive side of the ball. Opposing NBA players shot over 60 percent when they were guarded by Clarkson.

Jordan Clarkson might need to take shorter and smaller deal for now to prove that he can play both ends.

If Clarkson accept the Lakers' one-year qualifying offer in June, he would end up as a restricted free agent again in 2017. Clarkson could look into the open market to search for a better deal, which the Lakers will have three days to match. The Lakers will have up to $60 million in cap space available.

In his second year with the Lakers, he started all 79 games he played in improving in a few of offensive categories. Clarkson averaged 11.9 points per game in his first year and increased that number up to 15.5.