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.
2. Including Joe Harris and/or Seth Curry in a trade for Kyrie Irving
The Kyrie Irving trade situation is currently on pause as the Brooklyn Nets prioritize finding a trade partner for Kevin Durant. That is absolutely what the Nets should be doing and if they cannot find the right price for KD they very well could try and run it back.
It still seems more likely that Kyrie will be a Laker and one of the biggest problems with a trade that is just for Westbrook and picks is the money. Brooklyn is a taxpaying team and they do not want to take on over $10 million more in salary that is going to result in a massive bump in luxury tax.
For that reason, the Nets could try and include one of Joe Harris (more likely) or Seth Curry into the package to offset some of the money. The Lakers will be concerned about this because they run the organization like it is a small business but at the end of the day, they should just do it.
If your options are getting Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris or getting neither of them then you should probably just make deal with the Nets. Yes, they will take on more money, but it is not like Harris is a bad basketball player.
Harris is the best off-ball three-point shooter in the league. There is not a role player in the league today that could come in and offer the same floor-spacing and shot-making ability that Harris can.
3. Trade for Buddy Hield
The Los Angeles Lakers were tied to Buddy Hield prior to trading for Russell Westbrook last summer and for the season offseason in a row, Hield is once more tied to the Lakers. The Indiana Pacers have been floated around as a potential trade partner for Russell Westbrook and now Hield’s name has entered the fray.
ESPN’s David McMenamin reported that the two sides have re-engaged in trade talks for Buddy Hield so a trade might just be a matter of if, not when (h/t CBS Sports).
.@mcten on the latest trade rumors surrounding the Lakers 👀
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 20, 2022
“There has been some talks reengaged between the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers that would center around a Buddy Hield deal.” pic.twitter.com/2GiNSYQhds
There are a few different ways that the Lakers could get Hield this offseason. The first is to simply dump Westbrook to Indiana for Hield and Myles Turner. The Lakers would have to send a first-round pick for this and might even have to throw in a second.
There is also the potential for Indiana to be the third team in a trade that takes on Westbrook’s deal for assets in return. There actually is a world in which the Lakers could get Kyrie Irving and Buddy Hield together.
The final potential trade the Lakers could make would be a package that is centered around Kendrick Nunn, Talen Horton-Tucker and probably some picks (potentially including a protected first). That is not the best package but is possible if the team has other ideas for Westbrook.
Hield’s shooting took a bit of a dive last season but he still has a lot to offer from an off-ball scoring perspective. He is a career 39.8% three-point shooter that has shot over 43% from beyond the arc in a season.
A realistic Russell Westbrook trade with the Knicks the Lakers can offer
The Los Angeles Lakers are rumored to work out a trade with the New York Knicks involving Russell Westbrook. Here is what it could look like.
Hield certainly has his holes as a player but shooting is not one of them.