Los Angeles Lakers general manager, Rob Pelinka, recently praised Reggie Bullock as a key piece for the playoff push.
While the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t able to get an All-Star at the NBA Trade Deadline, they did address a major weakness.
Coming into the season, one of the main concerns for the Lakers was their three-point shooting. Through half of the season, the Lakers were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league, as only the Phoenix Suns had a worse percentage than them. Obviously, being close to the Suns in that category is not encouraging, as they are one of the worst teams in the league.
With LeBron James, having good three-point shooters is extremely important. With his ability to get to the basket and draw attention, shooters are usually open when James is on the move. After the trade deadline, Rob Pelinka recently discussed Reggie Bullock being a key piece for the team moving forward. Here’s what he had to say to Spectrum SportsNet with text via LakersNation.com.
"“Reggie Bullock, he had a 43 percent three-point shooting season last year. So he’s an elite, elite shooter. When we have a guy like LeBron, we want to give ourselves the best chance to go deep in the playoffs. We felt like he was a key piece for that.”"
Bullock is certainly a huge upgrade for the Lakers as a shooter. This season, Bullock is shooting 38.8 percent from three-point range, and last year he was over 40 percent from deep. Getting a knockdown shooter like Bullock will help the Lakers’ floor spacing immensely.
As the Lakers look to push toward the playoffs, Bullock will certainly have a role in the rotation, and should be playing a good amount with James. Even though James has not had great threats from the outside this season, he is still playing very well. However, he will certainly be connecting with Bullock for some nice easy three-point attempts as the season goes on.
While Bullock isn’t the biggest name, he should really help solidify an area that has been a struggle for the Lakers. If the three-point shooting improves down the stretch, the Lakers should be able to make the playoffs this season.