Lakers: Should Lou Williams Be Traded?

Lou Williams was a big part of the Lakers offense last year, but should the team still look to trade him this offseason

Most fans and analysts alike expect the Los Angeles Lakers to have big plans in NBA free agency this offseason given the depth of the free agent class and the money that the organization has to burn to help expedite the rebuilding process. However, one of the biggest decisions that the Lakers have to make this offseason concerns a player from their 2015 free agency class: Lou Williams.

Just one year into a three-year deal that Williams signed last offseason, Williams represents a bit of a conundrum on the Lakers roster. On one hand, he was one of the team’s most consistent sources of offense last season. On the other, he’s a veteran player whose fit is less than ideal with this young core of Lakers.

As such, the decision that the Lakers have to make this summer is whether or not they should look to trade Sweet Lou this offseason. There were rumblings around the 2016 trade deadline that the Lakers were exploring the notion, but nothing obviously came to fruition. With the draft and an interesting free agency period coming, though, trade partners might be a bit easier to find for a player like Williams.

But the issue at hand is whether or not the Lakers should trade Williams. After all, Williams posted a 99.6 offensive rating last season when he was on the floor and the Lakers offense dipped two points per 100 possessions when he came off the floor. Moreover, his 15.3 points per game ranked third on the roster for the year.

In regards to his offense, though, it’s no secret that Williams’ offense relies heavily on him dominating the ball and creating his own shot. Without question, Lou was the best player on the Lakers roster in doing that and his numbers reflected that. 160 of his 283 made field goals last season were unassisted and 48.5 percent of his shot attempts were on pull-up jumpers (NBA.com).

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What’s curious about that is how starkly Lou’s approach to offense seemingly contrasts with the offense of the Golden State Warriors that Luke Walton will be bringing a version of the Lakers. That offense is a hybrid of the triangle and the Spurs ball-movement heavy offense, both of which don’t really thrive off of Williams’ isolation heavy approach to offense.

Perhaps the most damning evidence when it comes to Williams, though, is the fact that his improvement on the offensive end is negated by his ineffectiveness defensively. Make no mistake; the Lakers as a whole were hot garbage on the defensive end of the floor. However, it’s not a good look for Lou that the two points better per 100 possessions that the Lakers were offensively with him on the floor was negated in terms of net rating by the fact that LA was 2.1 points per 100 possessions worse defensively.

Therein lies the ultimately conclusion when it comes to Williams and how he fits in the Lakers as they’re currently constructed. He’s a player with obvious strengths that could benefit teams in the right situation—but he’s also a player that basically becomes a wash when he’s on a young, growing team like the Lakers.

Subsequently, it would be in the Lakers best interest this offseason to at least explore trading Lou Williams. Though his contract is manageable at just around $7 million per year over the final two years of the deal, he’s a player that would individually benefit from playing elsewhere and the Lakers would benefit from opening up a spot on the roster and in the rotation.

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Exploring trades for Williams could wind up fruitless for the Lakers this summer or there could be nothing offered in return that would interest them. However, the situation that presents itself regarding Lou is one that ultimately suggests that at least trying to move on from him would be the best course of action.