It has been mentioned hundreds of times over that the Lakers are seeking ways to be able to afford two max contract players this offseason. While they will have quite a bit of money coming off the books this summer, they still will need to unload some contracts through trades.

A name that has been consistently linked to these ideas is Jordan Clarkson.

During ESPN’s Full Court Press special, Adrian Wojnarowski shed some light on how the front office feels about a deal that includes Clarkson.

“They believe they can trade Jordan Clarkson and get his money off. They prefer not to do it at the trade deadline, Clarkson has helped them win games this year and because they don’t have their pick, they want to win as many games as possible.”

Then he added how a Clarkson trade will impact free agency.

“There has to be a sequencing here and it gets back to are they going to chase one max salary slot or two, and there are three big free agents for them..Lebron James, Paul George, and Demarcus Cousins.”

With this information that the Lakers will be trying to keep Clarkson past the deadline, this gives them one less contract and asset to possibly trade for Paul George in February.