Magic Johnson challenges Clarkson to be NBA's 6th Man of the Year

Los Angeles Lakers president Magic Johnson expects a great deal from guard Jordan Clarkson, and is ready to see the 25-year-old take his game to new heights in 2017-18 - albeit as a backup.

"He's going to play a major role in us being a better team this year," Johnson said at Clarkson's basketball camp. "We felt we put some weapons around him that will even make his game better.

"I have challenged him because I want him to be Sixth Man of the Year. So I've challenged him to play like that. I think he has the potential, the talent. He's worked hard this summer."

Clarkson only came off the bench for 19 outings during his full 82-game run this past season, but will now presumably be a second-unit guy moving forward with both No. 2 overall pick Lonzo Ball and free-agent acquisition Kentavious Caldwell-Pope now in the fold.

It wasn't that long ago when Clarkson's name was being tossed around as a possible trade piece when the Lakers were linked to All-Star forward Paul George, who's now a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Los Angeles reportedly offered either Clarkson or Julius Randle, along with the No. 27 and No. 28 picks in last month's draft, to the Indiana Pacers for George.

With George forthcoming about his preference to be a Laker, paired with general manager Rob Pelinka's desire to sign one or more max free agents in 2018, the jury is still out on whether Clarkson even has a long-term future with the organization. He's under contract through 2019-20, earning $11.5 million this year and a combined $25.9 million the following two.

Trading Clarkson's deal or that of veteran Luol Deng would create almost $60 million in cap room to go along with the max space the Lakers already have after trading D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for the expiring contract of Brook Lopez.

Clarkson is averaging 14.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on 44.1 percent shooting from the field during his first three seasons in the Association.