CORONA, Calif. -- It has been only a few days since Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson returned from running basketball camps and charity events during a week abroad, first in the Philippines, with Nike, and then in China, with NBA Cares.

But the soon-to-be restricted free agent opted to spend his June 7 birthday in Corona, California, accompanied by friends (Oklahoma City Thunder wing Andre Roberson) and family (his father, Mike, and his brother, Bear), tending to a child who got poked in the eye during a loose-ball drill, instructing a pair of kids through a rebounding-position drill and overseeing his Nike JC6 youth basketball camp, an hour from his West Los Angeles residence.

Clarkson sat for a brief one-on-one interview to discuss his preparation for free agency, what the Lakers need around their young core and his offseason training regimen.

Question: It has been only a couple of days, but how has the camp been so far?

Jordan Clarkson: The camp has been going really good. We have [50 kids] sponsored by East West Bank here from the Boys & Girls Club -- we have a whole bunch of kids from around the city -- and it's been fun. It's been a great experience for me because I'm able to give back and do something I wasn't able to do when I was little. We didn't have NBA guys around my city, or guys who were doing this, so this has been a cool experience for me.

Q: Last month, you said you and Luke Walton had spoken right after he was hired as the Lakers' next coach. He's obviously busy with the playoffs, but have you guys spoken again since then?

JC: I haven't talked to him since then. I've just been working on my stuff right now. I know he's busy with the playoffs and the Finals [as a Golden State assistant coach]. Hopefully, it's over soon.

Q: Following the coaching change, has anything changed with regard to your workout routine or your approach to next season?

JC: I'm taking it slow right now because I feel I've been going pretty hard early and I don't want to peak in the summertime. But this weekend my trainer, Drew Hanlen, gets back out here and will be here until training camp, so my workouts are about to start getting more intense. We're about to start doing more detailed stuff. Most of it is the same stuff -- finishing at the rim, finishing plays behind the 3-point line off the dribble and staying in the weight room.

Q: Is it hard for you to scale back your workouts and not train as much?

JC: Yeah, it is. It's almost routine for me to do that stuff, but you have to give your body rest. No matter how much people say they're in the gym or want you to work, you have to give your body rest or you're going to die out, I feel. That's what I'm kind of in right now. I've still been working out and getting shots up, but it's about to turn up for me in a few days.

Q: Since you're a free agent, how much does that factor into your workout process? You're probably in line for a big contract this summer, so you obviously want to be cautious with injuries and your health. How do you balance that?

JC: I play a lot of one-on-ones, but I'm not doing any random pickup games like I would usually do during the summer time. Right now it's all individual-skill work. I play one-on-ones in my workouts every day, and that's probably the most live action I do. But I can't worry about getting injured. I'm still in here working as hard as I can.

Q: Looking at the young core -- you, D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. -- what do you guys need around you? What kind of piece are you guys missing? A small forward? A center? What do you need?

JC: I feel like anybody that's mobile and can help us on the defensive end -- whether that's a 3 or a big man -- and also someone who can score the ball, too. I can't tell you what piece would fit the puzzle because that's not my job. But that's ideally what I think would be best for us.

Q: What'd you think of the Warriors-Thunder series?

JC: That was one of the craziest and best playoff series I've ever watched. When the Thunder were up 3-1, I thought they were going to end it. Game 6, when the Thunder had all those turnovers at the end, was the deal-breaker right there. That was a crazy game. That series was really exciting. That might've been the best series of the playoffs.

Q: Now that you've been in the NBA for a couple of seasons, is it different when you watch the playoffs? Are you imagining what it'd be like to play in that series or go up against a certain team?

JC: It's definitely different. Just watching it and seeing the physicality and the calls that aren't being called. How intense the crowd is. How the huddles are. It's crazy watching everything. How the ball moves. The teams that are moving the ball are the teams that are winning, and that's Golden State. My boy, my best friend [Roberson] was in the series, so he's been telling me about it. It's definitely nice to watch, but I'm tired of hearing about it and watching it. I want to play in it.

Q: What have you learned from him and from watching the playoffs at home?

JC: All I can learn from watching is the intensity. Every mistake can cost you a game in the playoffs. That's all I can learn right now from watching. Being able to experience it would probably be the best thing for me.

Q: You guys have the No. 2 overall pick. Do you know Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram? Do you have a preference either way?

JC: I don't know either one of them. I don't have a preference. I just hope we get a really good player and a good teammate. That's all I can ask for at the end of the day.

Clarkson is working on defense and defensive footwork to stop the likes of Steph Curry. Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

Q: Some people have questions about the defensive dynamic with you and D'Angelo based on last season. At the same time, you guys are both 6-foot-5, long and athletic players. Do you think you guys can work together defensively? And if, for example, you guys were playing the Warriors in a series, are you automatically defending Klay [Thompson]? Are you guys switching between the Splash Brothers? Do you think you can defend point guards?

JC: We did it a lot this year. When we played Golden State, I guarded Steph [Curry] and I guard Klay sometimes, too. It's not like we haven't guarded 1s and 2s all year. It's just something we have to get used to. This was my first time playing the 2-guard position offensively and defensively, so it was all new to me.

Q: You've said you want to work on finishing at the rim, becoming a better defender and a better 3-point shooter. Is there anything else you're working on that people might not know about?

JC: Slowing down. Taking my time so I can create for my teammates. It's one of the hardest things to work on, but me and Drew are figuring it out right now. It's going to be an interesting summer in terms of my workouts. I'm just ready to get to all the detailed stuff that we're going to work on.

Q: How do you work on slowing down? What do you do?

JC: That's what we're figuring out right now. We're doing a lot of stuff in terms of watching film and talking to each other about it. He's had a lot of stuff to do pre-draft. But once we figure out what it is that we can do [to slow down], we're going to get it rolling and it's going to happen.

Q: When you look back at film of last year, is there anything that makes you cringe? What's the one thing you feel you could've done better?

JC: My footwork defensively. I can get stronger as well -- especially if I'm guarding guys that are playing the 2 position. Some of it was footwork. Some of it was the angles I was taking on closeouts. All of that plays a part of bad defense.