Prior to the NBA Trade Deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers addressed their need to improve their shooting from beyond the arc.
Coming into the season, one of the biggest questions for the Los Angeles Lakers was their three-point shooting.
When adding a player like LeBron James, that comes with a lot of expectations and potential criticism. In his career, James has been surrounded by three-point shooters, and that was something that the Lakers were awful at in the 2017-18 season.
Despite having the ability to add shooters in the offseason, the Lakers did not, and that raised a lot of eyebrows. However, prior to the NBA Trade Deadline, the Lakers did address the need to add shooters, as they traded for Reggie Bullock and Mike Muscala.
Bullock is coming from the Detroit Pistons, and instantly might be the best three-point shooter on the team already. This season, Bullock is shooting three-pointers at a 38.8 percent clip, which is pretty impressive. As a wing player, Bullock should get meaningful minutes for the Lakers, and him playing alongside James certainly makes sense.
In addition to adding Bullock a few days ago, the Lakers also added Mike Muscala right before the trade deadline. As a 6’11” big man, Muscala is averaging over four three-point attempts per game, and is shooting it just under 35 percent.
The trade for Muscala will provide the Lakers with a big man that can space the floor, which is something that they miss from Brook Lopez this season. Even though the Lakers didn’t add Anthony Davis at the deadline, adding some threats from beyond the arc should help the team. Both Muscala and Bullock are capable rotation players, and they will be welcomed to the Lakers if they can shoot three-pointers as they have so far this season.
While the Lakers did give up two young players in Ivica Zubac and Svi Mykhailiuk, they improved arguably their great weakness so far this season. If the Lakers get healthy and stay healthy, they should be a more balanced team and hopefully end their playoff drought this season.