The Los Angeles Lakers were thoroughly beaten by the Brooklyn Nets on primetime on Thursday night and there was one main difference between the two teams that led to the easy win for Brooklyn: three-point shooting.
The Brooklyn Nets could not miss from beyond the arc while the Lakers struggled to get anything going. The Lakers have not been a prominent three-point shooting team the last two seasons and they were just fine in winning the NBA Championship, but games like this are a reminder that perhaps the Lakers could use slightly more shooting.
The Lakers have a losing record against playoff team and the shooting has been inconsistent after a hot start. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso have come crashing down to earth, Wesley Matthews has been okay and Dennis Schroder and Markieff Morris have been shooting under expectations.
The Los Angeles Lakers do not need an overhaul, just another bench shooter or two.
Having another option to come off the bench and hit three-point shots can be huge, especially in the NBA Playoffs. Look at Markieff Morris last year. He was a small buyout signing but he got hot in the NBA Playoffs and shot 42% from deep — the third-best three-point shooting percentage in franchise history (min 69 attempts).
Adding another player like that who could provide heat checks off the bench will only make the Los Angeles Lakers deeper. There are naturally going to be trade targets on the market that the Lakers can add for non-impact rotation players (such as Alfonzo McKinnie).
After a loss like Thursday nights, the Lakers might be more in the market for shooters than they were before.
Here are three cheap trade options they could potentially pursue.