"Mid" would have been a kind way to describe the Los Angeles Lakers' floor spacing and 3-point shooting before the arrival of Luke Kennard. It is crazy to see just how much one man can change the entire outlook of a given area for a team with his presence. The improvement has been drastic.
Before Kennard's arrival, the Lakers were in the bottom half of the league when it comes to 3-point shooting. They were tied for 18th with the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, and Detroit Pistons with a mark of 35.0 percent from beyond the arc. The caveat there being they shot the second-lowest volume of those four teams, only putting up 33.8 attempts per game.
Overall, that number had them bottom-10 in the NBA. The Lakers ranked 23rd in the league for 3-point attempts on average before Kennard suited up for Los Angeles. All of this makes the turnaround for the team something to marvel at.
On one hand, the number of shots going up in Los Angeles has not increased over the 14 games that Kennard has donned purple and gold. Their volume remains fairly similar. However, the success rate is vastly different. The Lakers are hitting 39.2 percent of their shots from deep over that span. That places them second in the NBA, only trailing the Charlotte Hornets (40.2) during that time.
Opposing teams are suddenly forced to guard the Lakers from 3-point land
It's not just Kennard who is doing all the work from downtown over the last 14 games. Quite frankly, his slice of the pie is not massive by any means.
Kennard only accounts for 3.4 attempts per game of the Lakers' total 33.0 opportunities taken from triple over this recent stretch. However, the veteran sharpshooter spaces the floor and opens up opportunities for his teammates in the process. Take Luka Doncic as a prime example of that.
Doncic has appeared in 10 of the last 14 games for the Lakers. The superstar guard also takes, by far, the most attempts from distance of anyone on the team. After struggling before the All-Star break, Luka has his magic back.
Doncic is connecting on 42.2 percent of his 10.9 attempts per game with the deep ball. The volume shot by the Lakers superstar ranks third in the NBA in the last 14 games. That efficiency is a game-changer, and Los Angeles is reaping the benefits of it.
The Lakers would love to keep having this type of success throughout the remainder of the season and into the NBA Playoffs. It would give them one less thing to worry about in a campaign that has a ton of question floating over their heads.