Why the Los Angeles Lakers could say yes to this trade:
Look, KCP may not have had the best stats when he was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and he definitely had some moments where he was frustrating to watch as a fan. That being said, the impact that he (and others) had on this team was so apparent this past season when the Lakers were missing them.
The reason why the Lakers were able to walk their way to a championship in the Orlando bubble is that the roster was actually constructed in a smart way. The team relied on the outright dominance of LeBron James and Anthony Davis and surrounded those guys with perimeter defenders who could shoot.
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It really is that simple. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a positive three and D role player, Danny Green was great all season although he could not hit a shot in the bubble, Alex Caruso was elite defensively and could hit his shots when needed and Markieff Morris got red hot in the playoffs from three.
The Lakers did not have a single player on the team last season who could defend the perimeter and shoot. They had shooters that could not defend and guys who could defend but couldn’t shoot. They need that two-way role player and KCP knows what it takes to play next to LeBron and would add quality depth in that regard.
I know we rave about THT’s defensive potential as Laker fans but let’s be honest, is THT even a better defender than KCP at this point in his career? If he is, the difference is marginal at best. Offensively, KCP offers way more to the team and that is just with him as a catch and shoot.
Mason Jones’ contract gets converted to a standard contract so he can be included to make the money work.