If you’ve read any of my content for Lake Show Life, especially going into and during last season's playoffs, you’d know I’ve been a big advocate for Jake LaRavia. He’s my type of player, flat out. His hustle, corner-crashing, defensive effort, and ability to handle and make plays at the forward spot make him the type of Swiss Army Knife player I often gravitate toward as a viewer. The one thing missing throughout his first year in the purple and gold was his 3-point shooting.
It didn’t matter if he was wide open or contested. Anytime LaRavia got up a 3-ball, especially at crucial points in big games, it was hard not to cringe, worrying it would clank off the rim. It was one of the many reasons it was hard to justify playing LaRavia big minutes. Even though he did so much to impact other parts of the game, his shooting was brutal.
However, through his six games this season, his 3-point shooting is starting to look like it did early in his career with the Memphis Grizzlies. LaRavia has attempted 14 triples and is connecting on a 50 percent clip.
With him being a consistent floor-spacing threat for the first time in his Lakers career, giving him big minutes is a non-negotiable for JJ Redick. It’s also definitely a big factor in why he’s started in Ziaire Williams’ place these last three games.
Jake LaRavia is rewriting his story as a shooter
LaRavia's style of play is always going to make him someone a head coach wants to play. His hustle, heart, and unselfish style on offense make him a great complement to a superstar like Luka Doncic.
Between Austin Reaves and Luka, LA has more than enough self-creation and scoring; they just need role players to plug the holes and fill the gaps defensively. They also need options who can punish defenses by drilling open threes when Luka or Reaves draws extra attention, and so far LaRavia has checked that box.
As a role player, one of the best ways to punish a defense in the modern game is by hitting corner threes, and that was a major weakness for LaRavia last season. If I had a dollar for every time one of AR, Luka, or LeBron James drove to the basket and swung it to LaRavia in the corner just to hear clank, I would be able to afford a coffee in LA. According to Cleaning the Glass, LaRavia shot 30 percent on corner threes last regular season, bad enough to put him in the 14th percentile among wings.
This season, he’s hitting 71 percent from the corner and has become a reliable, trustworthy read for AR or Luka to make when they drive and look to kick out for a Lakers corner three.
It’s a super small sample, and I’m not suggesting LaRavia will have this success as a shooter for the season. However, it’s been a breath of fresh air to see him knock down his open looks from the perimeter, and it has only made him that much more valuable in a contract year for this Lakers team.
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