Los Angeles Lakers Draft: A dark horse pick that could be perfect for LA
By Ronald Agers
Lakers Draft nugget number three: Josh Christopher falls in the section of being a scorer and not necessarily a shooter!
When Lake Show Life does the Lake Show Life Lessons post games series, usually the debates come from basketball casuals that did not watch the game and just looked at the box scores. Those types will look at Josh’s game and call this section of the article hating. It’s not because there is a difference between scoring the basketball and being able to shoot.
Even though Christopher scored double figures in 13 of 15 games, he never showed that consistent scoring scouts are looking for in a prospect. Why? His shooting motion is slow. Check out the video from ESPN’s Mike Schultz…
Slow-motion look at Josh Christopher’s shooting stroke. The physical, scoring guard is shooting 58% from 2, 19% from 3 and 88.2% from the free throw line through 8 games. pic.twitter.com/BSHhXloRVH
— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) January 9, 2021
That is not the cleanest shot as it’s a combination of Nick Young (Remember Swaggy P?) and to a lesser extent Lonzo Ball.
- Watch as the ball starts at his left hip then flows in a circular motion as opposed to a normal up and down shot.
- This issue leads to a slow release that opposing teams will notice and adjust to in the NBA as his mechanics cause him to struggle from three-point range.
- He shot just 59 threes last season and made only 18 of them as opposing defenses let him shoot and did not give up the drive.
Josh Christopher is a much more effective when he can drive the ball to the basket (Particularly to his right). The problem is Lakers fans have seen this movie before with Talen Horton-Tucker. Defenses can just force him left or simply just force him to shoot the ball.
His stroke can be fixed with NBA coaching (Phil Handy and David Fizdale are on the staff right?), which is a positive. No one shoots 80 percent from the free-throw line with a completely broken stroke.
Other issues…
Playmaking, shot selection and tunnel vision.
Again, this is what Talen Horton-Tucker dealt with when he started. He is part of the future and Josh Christopher could be too.
Now that we know a little bit about this young prospect, let’s look at the positions other media outlets have Josh Christopher and if he could be a part of the Lakers draft at the 22nd pick. Read on…