NBA News: Los Angeles Lakers Could Bring Back Forward Earl Clark
The Los Angeles Lakers need a lot help to improve their play in the 2014-2015 NBA Season. One probable improvement is bringing back forward Earl Clark, according to popular basketball website and forum, realgm.com.
Clark was the 14th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns where he played for 51 games in his rookie season and another 9 games in his sophomore year before being traded to the Orlando Magic in December 2010. In the 2012 offseason, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the Dwight Howard deal that brought them to the Hollywood squad. He has since become an NBA journeyman transferring from one team to another including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers are once again on the way to the lottery barring any major improvement in their play this season. Los Angeles has a 3-11 win-loss record thus far, the worst record in the Western Conference. Injury problems has been one of the reasons of L.A.’s struggles losing veteran point guard Steve Nash, rookie power forward Julius Randle and recently, shooting guard Xavier Henry to various injuries. All three are not expected to return this season.
The 26-year-old Clark appeared in four games in the NBA Developmental League (NBADL) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and averaged impressive numbers of 28.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. In his first run with the Lakers, he averaged 7.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in 59 games with 36 starts. The numbers in L.A. are the career-high of Clark.
According to a related ESPN report, the Lakers have been granted two disabled player exceptions, one for Randle at $1.5M and for Nash at $4.8M which they can use to sign or trade for a player.