This Summer League standout is the deadeye that the Lakers need
By Jason Reed
One of the most important attributes to have if you are playing alongside LeBron James is three-point shooting. As the roster stands right now, the Los Angeles Lakers do not have many reliable three-point shooters and that is a problem.
Granted, the team might add shooters with the players attached in a potential Kyrie Irving trade but nothing is a guarantee. There are some shooters left on the free-agent market that the Lakers could pursue, but nobody available is all that exciting.
The most exciting option for the Lakers is actually in-house. Perhaps the biggest standout for Los Angeles during the Summer League thus far has been Cole Swider, who just dropped 21 points in the team’s last game against the Charlotte Hornets.
If he continues to play at this level, Swider very well could earn a spot in the Lakers’ rotation for one main reason: his knockdown three-point shooting.
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Cole Swider is the deadeye that the Los Angeles Lakers need.
Cole Swider was an undrafted free agent this season that the Lakers signed to a two-way contract prior to the Summer League. Swider spent three seasons at Villanova and one at Syracuse as many expected the forward to get drafted in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
It was quickly announced that he was signing with the Lakers after the draft as it made a ton of sense for the Lakers. Not only is Swider older so he should, in theory, be ready to contribute sooner, but he was a fantastic three-point shooter in college as well.
Swider took six threes per game with Syracuse last season and shot 41.1% from three. That is nothing to scoff at, especially when he also averaged 6.8 rebounds per game and played solid defense on the wing.
In five Summer League games thus far, Swider has attempted 30 shots from three and has made 17 for a 56.7% rate from beyond the arc. Yes, it is a small sample size and he is not going to shoot over 50% from three in a full season but his value as a three-point shooting wing has been on full display.
Los Angeles currently has 14 players on the roster so there is room to convert Swider’s contract to a standard NBA contract. If the Summer League standout continues his red-hot play, Los Angeles may have no other choice but to bring him into the team’s rotation next season.