Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott has tinkered his starting lineup a handful of times already, but none produced much success this season. After Kobe Bryant's season-ending injury and 40 losses before All-Star break, Scott is still adamantly pursuing his search for his best starting five.
In an interview with Mike Medina of Inside SoCal, Scott revealed that he's planning yet another lineup changes hopefully for the last time this season. The Lakers head coach has already started three different players at the point guard spot, with Jeremy Lin, Ronnie Price and Jordan Clarkson taking turns in perhaps the most unproductive position in the NBA.
Clarkson, a second-round draft pick last year out of Missouri, is logging at least 34 minutes per game since Bryant went down with a season-ending shoulder injury. Scott has been pumping in ample playing time for the young guard to speed up his development. Then again, there's no assurance he will be featured in Scott's latest lineup change.
"I'll probably make another lineup change just to get some other guys some time to just go out there and show what they can do as well," Scott said. "So I do expect probably one more, at least, lineup change."
Three-Way PG Battle
With Jordan Hill still nursing a quad injury and Ed Davis playing more comfortable as a reserve, it's unlikely the Lakers will change their current starting frontline featuring small forward Ryan Kelly, power forward Tarik Black and center Robert Sacre. Wayne Ellington has produced the best games of his career with the starting lineup, averaging 15 points and 4 rebounds over the last five games. The surge in his production made him a favorite to retain his role.
So it appears the starting job at the point is once again up for grabs. Each trying to prove a point, Lin (unrestricted free-agent), Price (unrestricted free-agent) and Clarkson (team option for next season) are locked up in another battle, with the winner getting the most opportunity to pad up his stats towards the end of the season.
Although Scott stressed changes won't take place until the final 25 games of the campaign, it's a must for every Lakers guard to impress in the upcoming games and make his case for a job that's never been stable since disposing Derek Fisher three years ago.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
