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NBA Draft 2017: 5 players who could be traded on draft night

By Brandon Jefferson

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; A general view of a video board displaying all thirty draft picks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; A general view of a video board displaying all thirty draft picks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 16, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson (6) and Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) talk during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Los Angeles Lakers won 100-89. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 16, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson (6) and Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) talk during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Los Angeles Lakers won 100-89. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Jordan Clarkson

The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the last few years in a place that they aren’t used to, the bottom of the standings. Luckily for them they have been able to hold on to their draft picks and have a nice staple of young prospects on the roster including Brandon Ingram, D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. The other player who is part of that group of young players, but wasn’t a high lottery pick, is Jordan Clarkson.

The Lakers committed $50 million to Clarkson on a four-year extension just last summer, but thanks to Lady Luck Los Angeles once again has a high pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. It’s most likely that they’ll select UCLA product Lonzo Ball with that selection next Thursday.

Adding Ball to the backcourt makes Clarkson expendable and with the Lakers not sure if they have drafted the next great Laker over the last three seasons they could dangle Clarkson in hopes of finding that player elsewhere, or more likely, move his salary off the books so they could swing for the fences on a big name free agent in 2018 — when players like Paul George, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook could all potentially be available.

Having Clarkson on a reasonable contract (an average of $12.5 million a year) makes facilitating a trade for him easier than just about every other name mentioned on this list.

Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets could easily swallow that amount into their cap space without any second thought. Neither team will likely be willing to return a star-caliber player, but they could get draft capital for the future — they owe their 2018 first round pick to the Sixers at the moment.

Next: Every NBA team's greatest draft pick of all time

Clarkson has been more than the Lakers could have bargained for when they selected him out of Colorado with the 46th overall pick in 2014.

However, he holds more value now as a trade chip then as part of their rotation. Most teams aren’t looking to trade wings for bigs, but the lack of proven pieces up front in Los Angeles means that the team may need to move on from Clarkson if they want to shore up their frontline by next season.

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