Fans better hope the Los Angeles Lakers roster is not complete for next season as this current roster will suffer the same fate as last season. Granted, the team is seemingly working on a deal to get Russell Westbrook off the team, so that will help things.
Even with a potential Westbrook deal, including if it is for Kyrie Irving, the Lakers still have a massive hole on the roster: three-point shooting. It is painful how bad the team’s three-point shooting is as constructed.
Los Angeles needs to add shooters and with only one more roster spot open and a list of guys who are good but not great in free agency, the Lakers may have to get creative in order to add three-point shooting for next season.
Here are 3 ways the Los Angeles Lakers can add 3-point shooting next season:
1. Promote Cole Swider to a standard contract
Cole Swider was the best player for the Lakers during the Summer League and was the best three-point shooter of anyone who played in Vegas. Swider was a complete deadeye for the Lakers, proving he is just what the team needs.
While Wenyen Gabriel showed spurts of potential last season, the Lakers would be far better off giving Swider his minutes in the rotation and then some. Swider has the potential to be an elite shooting forward and can hold his own on the defensive end as well.
The Summer League was not a mirage for Swider. The 23-year-old forward shot 41.1% at Syracuse last season and was touted as one of the better three-point shooters in the 2022 draft class.
Because he is 23, Swider should be ready to contribute to an NBA rotation quicker than some of the younger guys like Max Christie. Like Kyle Kuzma before him, there is a good chance that Swider etches out a nice role on the Lakers as a surprise player in year one.