3-Point shooting
The Los Angeles Lakers were dominant in the postseason.
They went on a tear. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the charge, the rest of the playoff teams didn’t stand a chance.
With LeBron destroying teams in transition, as well as bullying whoever he wanted, whenever and wherever he wanted it was going to be hard.
Add Anthony Davis at close to the peak of his powers (It’s arguable that Davis can get better!) backing you down in the post, draining jump shots in your face as well as guarding every team’s best player and it was going to be a nightmare for any team to beat the Lakers this off-season.
What makes the Los Angeles Lakers Championship that much more impressive is that they won the Larry O’Brien trophy being a terrible 3-point shooting team.
The recent history of the NBA would dictate that if you can shoot the 3-ball well you have a better chance at winning.
The Warriors have been the perfect example of that success. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson ( Get well soon play), and Kevin Durant were the key components of this style of play and the rest of the league followed.
The Lakers wanted to follow this model. They wanted to be a good 3-point shooting team but the truth of the matter is that they simply weren’t.
After winning the title this past season, it would be very easy for the Lakers to run things back and simply bring back all the guys they had last year and try and win again.
Championship organizations do not allow things to remain the same, they look to improve wherever they can, whenever they can.
The Dennis Schröder trade shows that the Lakers want to get better and are willing to make moves to get better.
While Schröder doesn’t have a history of being a top-level 3-point shooter, his 38.5% from the 3-point line last season will potentially be a big help for the purple and gold next season, especially at the point guard position.