Kendrick Nunn continues to disappoint with the Lakers
It was not too long ago that Los Angeles Lakers fans were running to Twitter to celebrate their new steal of a signing, Kendrick Nunn. The Lakers signed him to the MLE in the summer of 2021 and it seemed like there was no way it could turn out to be a bad move for them.
Fast forward to today and the Kendrick Nunn experiment has been anything but successful. His minutes have decreased in each of the first 3 games this season because he simply cannot make a shot or lock down on the perimeter defensively.
In his last two games, Nunn has gone 0 for 10 from the field with three turnovers and he has been a liability as an on-ball defender as well. Nunn’s shooting along with the rest of the backcourt is a big reason why the Lakers are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams through three games in NBA history.
Not to mention last season he did not play a single game because of a lingering knee injury that was said to be a bone bruise. It seemed like the entire year while the Lakers struggled to win games and find any offense, Nunn was on the verge of returning to the court, but he never did.
Kendrick Nunn hasn’t given the Lakers what they expected.
Nunn was supposed to be the shoot-first point guard that has been successful playing alongside LeBron James in the past. He was supposed to provide instant offense and be a reliable 3-point threat, but that has not happened in the small sample size of three games.
Yet if three games are enough for fans to call for a trade and a roster shake-up, then it is enough to question the play of the Lakers’ struggling point guard. Perhaps watching Westbrook’s shooting struggles from the sidelines last season and playing in the same backcourt has rubbed off on Nunn in a psychological sort of way.
Some players can’t handle the bright lights of Los Angeles where the constant pressure to perform is amplified like nowhere else in the league. So far Nunn has yet to prove he can handle the pressures that come along with wearing the purple and gold.
If the Lakers are going to get the first win and break out of their shooting slump, Nunn has to step up and start hitting open jumpers when he gets his opportunities. If he can’t, he could be a part of an early season trade that Adrian Wojnarowski reported could come around the 20-game mark in the season.
He is also at risk of falling out of the Lakers rotation altogether once Lakers’ guard Dennis Schröder returns from injury. He went from a potential starter and someone they might rely on to play big minutes to a guy fighting for a chance to get off the bench in a matter of a few games.
Westbrook has received most of the criticism for the Lakers’ struggles since he was acquired the same summer as Nunn. It is time that Nunn gets his share of the blame because he was supposed to be a key shooter, scorer and play a big role as well.
The Lakers probably thought it was a smart move to sign Nunn because of his performance against them in the NBA Finals in 2020. In those finals, he came off the bench and scored 18 in game one, 13 in game two, and 14 in game five. Yet it should have been a red flag when a historically well-run franchise like the Miami Heat let him get away so easily.
So far in his Lakers career, he has been unplayable for two straight seasons, and he has pretty much robbed the Lakers of more than $10 million. Last season it was because of a bone bruise that never healed and this year because of his struggles on the court.
There’s plenty of time in the season for Nunn to turn around how he is viewed in La La Land, but at this point, he is going to have to do a lot to repair his damaged reputation. At this point, a trade is already expected in Los Angeles, so Nunn’s seat is definitely heating up as he continues to warm it up on the bench.