36 minutes — Jake LaRavia played well above his season average during the Los Angeles Lakers' disappointing 134-128 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. There were a lot of things LaRavia did well during his expanded playing time. Knocking down his 3-point opportunities was not one of them.
LaRavia struggled from beyond the arc, only connecting on 1-of-5 from deep. It was yet another showcase of an issue that has plagued the young Lakers wing throughout the 2025-26 campaign.
When Rob Pelinka and the front office put in the call to sign LaRavia in wake of Dorian Finney-Smith's departure during the offseason, they were dialing the number of a guy who just shot 42.3 percent on his 3-point looks in 2024-25. The volume was low, but the efficiency was encouraging.
LaRavia's per game has gone up, but not by any crazy leap. The 24-year-old is shooting 3.0 attempts from distance this season, jumping up from 2.2 in 2024-25. His effectiveness on that shot has dropped to a career low of 31.8 percent. For a player who continues to be elevated in importance following the injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers need better.
Lakers desperately need Jake LaRavia to find his 3-point shot
It's not like the shots in Los Angeles that LaRavia gets are poor quality looks. They are certainly not any worse than what the youngster was shooting with the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings last season.
Watch the games and you will see plenty of easy perimeter opportunities fall into the lap of LaRavia. The Lakers wing has just been ineffective at pocketing them.
According to NBA.com, LaRavia has received 180 total opportunities to attempt what the league would consider a wide-open shot in 2025-26. The Lakers forward has actually converted slightly worse on those instances than his already career-low percentage on the whole. LaRavia is hitting just 31.1 on 3-point takes that do not have a defender within six feet of him.
If the only boost he brought to the floor was shooting, LaRavia would already be glued tightly to the bench. Luckily for him and the Lakers, there is added value to be found in the other things he does on the court. LaRavia is excellent at doing the dirty work, and is a solid defender for Los Angeles.
However, with the Lakers now searching for offense behind LeBron James, JJ Redick and his staff will need to demand more from their glue guy.
Redick has openly talked about needing to find nine guys who can compete for the postseason, with options quickly dropping like flies in Los Angeles. LaRavia's levels are where they need to be to qualify. Getting the most out of his minutes involves having that deep ball drop more often, though.