Lakers season preview: Point guards

Our Los Angeles Lakers preview has wrapped up the point guard position, focusing on a fading Hall of Famer, a player trying to stabilize the middle of his career, and a second-round pick that could be the latest deep-draft find for Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak.

Here's a review of what Silver Screen & Roll had to say about the Lakers point guards:

"Nash should be allowed an opportunity to write the final chapter to his career in the NBA. It may be a frustrating exercise, but the Lakers have nothing to lose by giving him the chance he deserves. Los Angeles, perhaps more than any NBA city, knows what it means to respect basketball lore. It's one of the reasons the Lakers front office awarded Kobe Bryant a lifetime achievement extension, to make sure he ends his career in purple and gold, and honored the great Chick Hearn with a statue in front of the house his voice helped build. The Lakers are living basketball history." - Steve Nash is writing his final chapter

"As almost always when dealing with best and worst case scenarios, somewhere in the middle. Given the vibes from Gary Vitti about Nash finally having his health under control, it is not impossible to imagine the Vancouver product playing in around half of the Lakers games, with his shooting providing much needed space for Kobe, Randle, et al. to get shots out of the post. All of this, while being a helpful teacher on the bench, a good cop to Kobe Bryant's bad one in the locker room, and overall helping maintain team chemistry during what will be either a surprising playoff run, or more likely a second straight lottery trip." - Steve Nash's portfollio

"The time is now for Jeremy Lin to become a consistent force in the NBA. He'll be operating the offense alongside Kobe Bryant and most likely getting the second or third most shots, depending on how trigger-happy Nick Young is this season. Lin will have the ball in his hands almost every possession he's on the floor, unless Jordan Clarkson can prove something as a second-round pick in his first season, or Steve Nash can return from the dead. In short: Jeremy Lin is going to be a talented player with potential on a really crappy team. If ever there was going to be an opportunity for Lin to run an offense unimpeded by benching (in lieu of Patrick Beverley) or injury (in New York), he might have no better opportunity than right now." - Jeremy Lin's moment is now

"Lin has had a reasonably clean bill of health through his career, so projecting him to miss significant time isn't appropriate. What will likely happen is he'll be the team's starting point guard once Nash can't handle the minutes due to degenerative health issues, or a serious injury, which will thrust Lin into the starting role. He should be just fine playing next to Kobe Bryant, and should build a pick-and-roll repertoire with Carlos Boozer and Julius Randle. Lin probably won't break through some sort of glass ceiling to become one of the league's top point guards, but he doesn't need to do that to have his season with the Lakers considered a successful one." - Jeremy Lin's portfolio

"Nash's ability to have a significant role in the Lakers' rotation remains in question, which potentially leaves Jordan Clarkson in the role of leader of the team's reserve unit. Despite the uncertainty about his ability to take control of that role right away, the rookie guard has shown flashes of being the type of player we haven't seen in a Lakers' uniform in years. As showcased during his time with Missouri and most recently in Summer League, Clarkson immediately jumps out at you because of the high-energy approach he brings to every possession. As the majority of young back-court talent tend to struggle to find their "comfort level" with their new team, it appears that Clarkson won't be sharing those same concerns." - Jordan Clarkson, diamond in the rough

"Clarkson panning out would be a boon for the franchise, as well as making him the third consecutive second round pick where the front office found a contributor. Going into 2015 and the last year of Kobe's mammoth extension, Clarkson's small price tag would help the organization add pieces around the Mamba for potentially one last run. It's not always about hitting home runs with draft picks, but finding players who could legitimately be a starter in the league to keep around on franchise-friendly contracts." - Jordan Clarkson's portfolio