Second, the Los Angeles Lakers need a shooter
The ingredient that the Los Angeles Lakers need most is more offensive firepower. Their ineffective marksmanship from behind the arc, where they rank 25th in the league at 35%, is their most glaring weakness.
They believed they had added a key shooter in the offseason when they essentially replaced the traded Danny Green with Wes Matthews. But Matthews has probably been the most disappointing Laker. He is shooting only 33% from deep, and of the 31 three-pointers he’s made this season, 18 have come in just four games. In the other 27 games he played, he’s only made 13 three-point shots.
Without a doubt, Pelinka is looking hard at adding a three-point shooting wing, preferably one that plays at least passable defense. Here are four names that have surfaced:
PJ Tucker
He is one of the league’s best short corner three-point shooters and is still an excellent defender at age 35. He’ll be a free agent after this season and is having a down year.
The Rockets are in the midst of a youth movement and hope to trade Tucker in return for a young player or a first-round draft pick. The one Lakers player they’d likely be interested in is 20-year old Talen Horton-Tucker, but the Lakers almost certainly wouldn’t trade a young player with as much upside as THT.
It’s possible no team offers what the Rockets want and they end up releasing Tucker. Then the Lakers would have to battle the usual suspects (first and foremost the Nets and Clippers) to sign him.
Trevor Ariza
This former Laker hasn’t played since the league closed down for the pandemic last March. For now, he’s just taking up a spot on the Oklahoma City roster, and the expectation is that the Thunder will trade him or buy him out.
Ariza is another two-way player who performed well for Portland last year. But who knows whether he’s in basketball shape either physically or mentally. Still, he is a player that Pelinka is undoubtedly exploring.
Wayne Ellington
He also played a season with the Lakers back in 2014-15. He’s a lifetime 38% three-point shooter who is connecting at a 42% rate this season, his 13th year in the league.
The Pistons have already bought out Blake Griffin as part of their youth movement and could do the same or trade Ellington. He’s another guy that Pelinka is monitoring.
JJ Redick
He has been one of the league’s finest long-distance shooters for most of his 15-year career with a lifetime 41% rate, although he’s down to 36% this season with the Pelicans. Trading him won’t be easy because of his $13 million expiring contract but it’s possible New Orleans buys him out.
Word on the street is that Redick’s preference is to join a team located in the northeast. But he had a nice four-year run with the Clippers, so perhaps he’d agree to return to Staples Center to play for the “good guys”.
What the Los Angeles Lakers need most of all:
There’s an easy answer to the question “What will give the Lakers the best chance at successfully defending their title”?
Anthony Davis #3 (Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images)Additional depth at center and an extra shooter will certainly help. But without a doubt, the fate of the Lakers depends far more on the health of Anthony Davis this postseason than on any acquisitions they make.
If AD is physically able to play as well as he did in the 2020 playoffs, the Lakers will be in good position to repeat as champions. But a subpar Davis means they almost certainly will come up short. All the chatter about a rim protector or a three-point shooter is far less relevant than how much Anthony Davis can contribute.
All statistics courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com