Lakerholics

Thanks to great moves at last season’s trade deadline and this offseason, the Lakers now find themselves with the deepest and most talented roster and the most legitimate tradable contracts since signing LeBron James.

That bodes well for the Lakers’ championship hopes for next season and for their chances to pull off a blockbuster move before the trade deadline to upgrade their roster from championship contender to title favorite.
The Lakers find themselves in the enviable position of not having to make a move to compete for a championship but they won’t hesitate to swing for the fences if the right player or players were suddenly to become available.

Everybody knows the Lakers would like to trade for a third superstar to play alongside LeBron and AD, help win a championship this season, and then replace James whenever he decides to retire or leave in free agency. The Lakers still have two open roster spots to fill and are hoping to add enough depth so they’ll still have a strong 10-man rotation even after trading two or three current players for a third star before the deadline.

While Rob Pelinka has done a masterful job rebuilding the team on the court, he’s done an even better job cleaning up and optimizing the Lakers salary cap so he has the trading chips to pursue a third star or superstar. Pelinka has built this roster for a big trade. While Reaves is throwing his hat in the ring to be the team’s third star, the Lakers will be on a mission and know this could be their best chance to get another ring for LeBron.

If the Lakers start strong, stay healthy, and get winning play from their starters and rotation, major trading chips and key wild card projects, they can still have championship caliber depth after trading for a third star.

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What Would Lakers’ Mega Trade Packages Look Like?

Here are three proposed Laker trades for a $40 million star or stars built upon a package of D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Top-5 protected 2029 first round pick and 2030 first round pick swap.

There’s a consensus among analysts that the package the Lakers will likely be pushing as they approach the trade deadline will include D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and necessary draft capital. The Lakers’ problem is they won’t trade James, Davis, or Reaves, which means there’s simply no way to match salaries to trade for a pair of stars or a superstar making $40 million without including Russell and Hachimura.

Russell’s $17.3 million, Hachimura’s $15.7 million, and Hood-Schifino’s $3.7M give the the Lakers $36.7 million in valuable tradable salaries, enough to bring back a player or players making $40 million per year. Players whom the Lakers might pursue include Trae Young, Zach LaVine, Pascal Siakam, Kyrie Irving, Kristaps Porzingis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Brandon Ingram, DeMar DeRozan, Myles Turner, and Buddy Hield.

While Russell or Hachimura could play so well the Lakers could decide to keep one or both of them and settle for just minor tweaks or no changes to the roster, the Lakers have positioned themselves for a blockbuster trade. Rob Pelinka sees this as an opportunity not only to reinforce the roster to make a run to win another championship for LeBron but also possibly to make a big move to actually land the player or players to replace James.

The Lakers love the roster they have right now but understand that this season is an opportunity to win their 18th NBA championship as well as a chance to trade for third superstar to eventually replace LeBron James.

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What Would Lakers’ Post-Trade Depth Charts Look Like?

Here is how the projected depth charts for the Lakers would look like after making the three blockbuster trades used above as examples of possible deadline trades by L.A. In each case, Lakers still end up with deep rosters.

Looking at the above depth charts, trading for a superstar like Trae Young or Zach LaVine or a pair of second-tier stars like Myles Turner and Buddy Hield would greatly upgrade the firepower of the Lakers’ starting lineup. 
The Lakers would be trading two starters for two starters from the Pacers and two starters for one starter from the Hawks or Bulls, which then opens up an opportunities to play two bigs or start Cam Reddish at small forward.

What also jumps out from the above depth charts is how important the Lakers’ last two open roster spots could be, especially if they can land an impact player like Christian Woods for just the veteran’s minimum pay. Depth always looks better on paper but often falls prey to reality as players don’t live up to expectations or get injured. Because of so many wild cards, the Lakers ceiling is exceptionally high and their floor exceptionally low.

Because of the rule changes which prevent teams who are over the first tax threshold from signing any buyout candidates, the Lakers are likely to keep their 15th roster spot open for potential star quality buyout candidates. There’s definitely a possibility of an older veteran player getting released and becoming available in time to be eligible to participate in the playoffs. As a team that can sign buyouts, the Lakers will keep their 15th spot open.

The Lakers need to stay healthy and hope questions about almost every player on the roster get answered positively but a midseason trade for a superstar or pair of stars to this team could lead to their winning #18.

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How Hayes And Reddish ‘Wild Cards’ Could Be Key to Trade

The Lakers’ odds of still having championship quality bench depth after trading multiple players for a third superstar or pair of second-tier stars could depend on how wild cards Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish play.

The Lakers hope signing Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish, the #8 and #10 picks in the 2019 NBA Draft, will yield the same lightning-in-a-bottle they got for trading for Rui Hachimura, the #9 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. 
Until Hachimura broke out and finished the regular season strong and excelled in the playoffs for the Lakers, all three of the Top-10 2019 draftees were considered to be players who had underperformed their draft status.

But right now, Hayes, Reddish, and Hachimura are have realistic options to start for the Lakers: Hayes at the five with Davis in a two-bigs lineup or Reddish or Hachimura at the three with James and Davis and four and five. How the three perform in training camp and preseason could very well determine who starts for the Lakers. In a perfect world, Hachimura will continue to excel as a Laker while Hayes and Reddish have breakout years.

The NBA has always been a star and superstar driven league and the Lakers roster has four players who were top-10 first round picks in LeBron James (#1), Anthony Davis (#1), D’Angelo Russell (#2), and Rui Hachimura (#9). 
The four players the Lakers were targeting via midseason trades were Trae Young (#5), Zach LaVine (#13), Myles Turner (#11), and Buddy Hield (#6), which would give the Lakers five or six players who were top-13 picks.

The Lakers need all three of their 2019 Top-10 draft picks to have career seasons so they can pull off a mega midseason trade for a third star or superstar and still have championship caliber depth left after the trade.

Sometimes young stars are given nicknames so perfect they stick and the player and nickname become synonymous: Earvin Johnson and Magic, Kobe Bryant and the Black Mamba, Austin Reaves and the White Mamba.

Watching Austin Reaves taking over play every time he entered the game for Team USA reminded me of Kobe diving for a loose ball and setting the tone in the first game of the 2007 FIBA qualifying tournament in Las Vegas. That led to my epiphany that Austin Reaves deserves the White Mamba nickname because he’s the NBA player who best represents Kobe Bryant’s intense passion, obsession, relentlessness, resilience, and fearlessness.

Those are the five pillars supporting Mamba Mentality, which is Bryant’s personal philosophy on becoming the best version of oneself. Mamba Mentality is a basketball bible to players like Austin who idolized Kobe. Putting the principles of Mamba Mentality to work is obviously easier said than done, especially when you’re an unknown, undrafted, older white player who played four years and sat out one year of college basketball.

Austin Reaves’ entire approach to the game of basketball has been the result of his embracing of Mamba Mentality. You can see Kobe in the passion with which Austin plays and celebrates his team’s great plays. Reaves’ obsession to grow reminds one of Bryant’s push to get better. His relentlessness and fearlessness in attacking the paint as well as his dogged resilience when the road gets tougher just scream White Mamba!

That’s why Austin Reaves’ accomplishments in the first two years of his professional basketball career show why he deserves the honor of being called the White Mamba. He was inspired by Kobe to play like Kobe.

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Why Austin Reaves is White Mamba

Austin Reaves dodged specifically answering when asked by reporters what he meant when he screamed “I’M HIM!” after his Game 1 playoff heroics against the Grizzlies but those who know him know he meant Kobe Bryant.

Reaves grew up in a small Arkansas town as a diehard Kobe Bryant fan. Through his young career, Austin has had numerous nicknames, including Hillbilly Kobe and AR-15, neither of which truly reflected Reaves’ game. White Mamba, on the other hand, is the one nickname that truly captures what Austin Reaves’ game is all about and why he is the best model for a player who lives and believes in Mamba Mentality in the NBA today.

Casual Lakers and NBA fans still view Austin Reaves through their Alex Caruso white-player lenses. While there are some obvious similarities, Austin Reaves and Alex Caruso are two entirely different types of players. While both are smart, competitive, and team oriented players, Caruso is a defense first, pass first player who’s near his ceiling whereas Reaves is an offense first, shoot first player who’s ceiling is All-Star or even beyond.

While Austin Reaves doesn’t have the uber athleticism of a young Kobe Bryant, he plays with the same passion, obsessiveness, relentlessness, resilience, and fearlessness that made Kobe Bryant the Black Mamba.
What Reaves does have is an old school basketball intelligence fueled by Mamba Mentality intensity and versatility that lets him fit seamlessly into any lineup or role, on or off the ball, as a scorer, playmaker, or defender.

It’s near impossible to watch Austin Reaves play without experiencing an epiphany that he’s the one player in today’s NBA whom Kobe Bryant would be most proud of and honored to award the nickname of White Mamba.

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Scalabrine’s Claim to White Mamba

No disrespect to Brian Scalabrine, but NBA players don’t give themselves nicknames. They earn them from admirers by their performances on the court. Brian Scalabrine is not Kobe Bryant, nor is he the White Mamba.

The White Mamba is a nickname that must be earned on the court by a player displaying the traits that made Kobe Bryant such a unique and beloved superstar. It’s not a nickname to be assumed by a role player.
What makes giving himself the White Mamba name so insulting is, other than being white, Scalabrine never achieve anything more than being a solid role player in his career. As Scal himself says, it was all just a joke.

“The story behind it is, you know Kobe had the shoes. You remember the commercial where jumped over the car, and him and Ronnie Turiaf, right. So, I loved those shoes, I wore his shoes all the time anyways. You have Nike ID, you could make those online so I made one, they had the snake skin. I made it white, I put red bottoms on’em. And then I slapped them down on the table in front of Stacy King, and I said White Mamba 1.0’s.”

Frankly, Hillbilly Kobe and AR-15 were embarrassing nicknames for a player who’s future looks unlimited right now. As fans get to know more about young Austin Reaves, his love and connection to Kobe Bryant will emerge. More and more, I expect Lakers fans to have the same epiphany I did and start calling Austin Reaves by the nickname he deserves. Nobody in the league better deserves to be called the White Mamba than Austin Reaves.

It’s time for Brian Scalabrine to renounce the White Mamba nickname he kiddingly gave himself so Austin Reaves will be able to embrace the honor of assuming the White Mamba nickname for playing the game like Kobe.

Austin Reaves is such a hot NBA story right now that you have to forgive drunk and delirious Lakers fans speculating whether ‘Hillbilly Kobe’ could develop into the elusive third superstar L.A. needs for a new Big Three.

What Austin Reaves has done in just two seasons going from an undrafted rookie to clearly the third best player on the Lakers’ roster and arguably the third best player on the star-studded Team USA roster has been amazing. Unfortunately, as great as 25-year old Austin Reaves is, there’s not enough time left for him to develop into the Lakers’ third superstar before 38-year old LeBron James decides to hang up his sneakers and finally retire.

The other issues with Austin Reaves is he’s already 25-years old, having spent four full years playing college basketball, and does not boast the elite physical body and ultra athleticism that sets apart superstar prospects. What Reaves does possess though that gives him possible All-Star and Superstar upside is a LeBron James level of BBIQ, a lethal 50/40/90% sweet shooting stroke, and a Kobe Bryant ‘Mamba-like’ drive to become great.

The big question is what is Austin Reaves NBA ceiling. We already know he can be a big-time contributor but let’s examine the pro and con cases for Austin as an Elite Starter, an All-Star, or eventually even a Superstar.

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Austin Reaves, Elite Starter

Austin Reaves will embark on his third season in purple and gold already firmly entrenched as an Elite Starter and the team’s third best player, with a brand new 4-year $54 million contract and hopefully a FIBA gold medal.

Credit for the Lakers’ strong finish last season is generally attributed to Pelinka’s trade deadline moves but Reaves taking advantage of Westbrook’s touches and minutes to elevate his game to a new level was just as critical. In retrospect, Austin Reaves replacing Russell Westbrook was the catalyst that fueled the New Look Lakers to make it to the Play-In Tournament and eventually to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to Denver.

The next step in Austin Reaves evolution is for the Lakers to give him the ball and let him play more point guard, a role he excelled at during the team’s strong finish to the regular season and their success in the playoffs. While Reaves and Russell were a solid starting backcourt for the Lakers late last season and through most of the playoffs, the team’s interest in having Austin play more point guard could portend a midseason D’Angelo trade.

Bottom line, Austin Reaves finished last season averaging 13.0/3.0/3.4 in 28.8 minutes per game while shooting 52.9%/39.8%/86.4%. Before the trade deadline, he averaged 10.7/3.1/2.2 while shooting 49.1%/36.9%/88.9%. During the playoffs, Reaves raised his game to that of an Elite Starter, averaging 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists in 36.2 minutes per game shooting 46.4% from field, 44.3% from deep, and 89.5% from the line.

Austin Reaves has already proven he has the ability to be an Elite Starter in the NBA. Now he just needs to perform at that level for a couple of seasons. We’ll have a better idea of how high his ceiling really is after this season.

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Austin Reaves, All-Star

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham expects Austin Reaves to compete for a spot on the West All-Star team. After a sensational playoffs, Reaves is poised to enjoy a breakout regular season that could earn him an All-Star selection.

After averaging 16.9/4.4/4.6 in 36.2 minutes per game in the playoffs, the Lakers plan to give Reaves even more touches at point guard to take better advantage of his playmaking skills and fit with superstars James and Davis. Assuming he will probably play the third most minutes on the Lakers, Austin could have an opportunity to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, which would make him a legitimate All-Star candidate.

The recognition Reaves is receiving right now for his terrific play in the FIBA exhibition games as well as his role as a Lakers’ fan favorite will both help him immensely when it comes to making the West All-Star team. While the competition to be one of the guards on the West’s All-Star team is extreme, Reaves has an chance with a 20/5/5 season with 50%/40%/90% shooting and help from Lakers fans to earn a surprise West All-Star spot.

Last year’s West starting guards were Doncic (32.0/8.0/8.6) and Morant (26.2/8.1/5.9) with Gilgeous-Alexander (31.4/5.5/4.8), Lillard (32.2/7.3/4.8), Edwards (24.6/4.4/5.8), Curry (29.4/6.3/6.1), Fox (25.0/6.1/4.2) as reserves. While Reaves’ averaging 20.0/5.0/5.0 won’t compare to the numbers of several of the superstar guards who made last season’s West All-Star team, Austin still has a long-shot chance of being an All-Star because of fans.

Austin Reaves is probably a season or two and a championship away from averaging 25.0/8.0/8.0 and being selected for an All-Star game appearance. It’s just a matter of time and experience before AR becomes an All-Star.

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Austin Reaves, Superstar

As the third best player on the Lakers and arguably third best player on Team USA, Austin Reaves has delirious Lakers fans pondering if Hillbilly Kobe could become the team’s third superstar next to LeBron and AD.

Frankly, since the coming season could theoretically be LeBron James final season in purple and gold, Austin Reaves will simply not have enough time to develop into a superstar and form a Big Three with James and Davis.
The better question is does Reaves have the upside to make the jump from NBA All-Star to superstar. While going from elite starter to All-Star is like high school to college, the jump to Superstar is like college to the pros.

The hype surrounding Austin Reaves has been out of this world and much of it because Reaves looks more like the average NBA fan than NBA player. In many ways, Austin is his generation’s Larry Bird, the great white hope. Reaves doesn’t have out-of-the-world talent and athleticism, can’t jump out of the gym, and wasn’t even drafted two years ago after playing four years of college basketball. What he does have is a sweet stroke and great BBIQ.

While Reaves won’t have time to grow into a superstar before LeBron is going, the Lakers are hoping Austin’s ability to score and create plays at all three levels will enable him to become Anthony Davis’ superstar partner. The Lakers also plan to experiment more with Austin Reaves playing point guard, which would enable them to trade D’Angelo Russell before the trade deadline without having to bring back a starting point guard in return.

Does Austin Reaves have a chance to develop into a legitimate Superstar? The odds are slim and none considering his raw talent but if he can shoot like Bird, think like LeBron, and compete like Kobe, anything’s possible.

While the Lakers are confident they can compete for a championship this season, they also know all their optimism is based upon receiving positive answers to major question marks for the 10 key players in their rotation.

Frankly, major questions about every player in their rotation is what makes the Lakers a scary team. Those question marks could raise their ceiling to a championship stratosphere or plummet their floor to a nightmarish abyss. While the Lakers have done an excellent job surrounding their superstars with more size, shooting, and depth, they’re still heavily dependent upon LeBron James and Anthony Davis staying healthy and playing 65+ games.

For purposes of this article, we’re going to assume that LeBron James and Anthony Davis will play over 65 games and finish the season healthy and primed for the playoffs. That’s essential for any Lakers championship. We’re also going to assume the Lakers don’t make any more major moves before the start of the season or at the trade deadline. While L.A. is not the favorite, the assumption is the team wants to keep the current roster.

Here are the ten questions ten key Lakers players must answer to win a championship. The Lakers need the first three and five of the remaining seven questions to be answer affirmatively to win the NBA championship.

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1. Can Anthony Davis finally take the torch from Lebron James?

With a new 3-year extension locking him in L.A. for the next five years, Anthony Davis has become the Lakers’ franchise face and alpha superstar. For the Lakers to win, AD must reclaim his standing as a top-5 superstar.

The big question is will Davis play the five like last season with James at the four or will the Lakers go two bigs with Hayes or a stretch big like Wood at the five and Davis at the four, where he’ll need to regain his outside shot. Regardless of where Davis ends up playing, he’s going to need to rediscover the outstanding midrange and 3-point shooting stroke he displayed when the Lakers won their 17th NBA championship in the bubble back in 2020.

The Lakers will open the season with two bigs and AD playing his preferred power forward. For the Lakers to win the championship, Davis must take the torch from James and become a legitimate MVP and DPOY candidate.

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2. Can LeBron James continue to play like a top-ten superstar?

The coming NBA season could theoretically be LeBron James’ final season in purple and gold as he theoretically could exercise the player option for his final contract year to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The big question for LeBron James is whether he will be able to recover from the foot injury that hobbled him the second half of the season and in the playoffs and prevented him from having his normal explosiveness. Where James will end up playing is also up in the air at the moment. The Lakers push to play two bigs may end up forcing LeBron James to slide from the four to the three, which would then have him defending wings.

The Lakers want to relieve LeBron of the pressure of being the team’s lead scorer and playmaker so he can be the ace in the hole they can call when they need a win. They’re counting on LBJ remaining a top-10 superstar.

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3. Can Austin Reaves be 3rd best player on a championship team?

While undrafted 25-year olds who played four years of college basketball are usually considered to have a lower ceiling than younger 20-year olds who were one-and-done in college, Austin Reaves may be the exception.

What gives Reaves a much higher ceiling than expected is his preternatural basketball intelligence, ability to efficiently score the basketball at all three levels, and unique knack for drawing fouls from defenders in the paint. Reaves appears ready to translate his elite playoff performance into an elite regular season performance as Darvin Ham essentially plans to give Austin increased point guard responsibilities to see if that could be his future.

With added experience playing for Team USA, Austin Reaves is poised to enjoy a breakout season where he will get more minutes and touches and have a chance to prove he can be the third star on championship team.

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4. Can D’Angelo Russell pull off a regular season redemption?

After a rough conference finals and offseason, D’Angelo Russell was forced to sign a 2-year $36 million contract (with year 2 player option) that waived his ‘no trade’ rights so Lakers will be able to trade him after December 15.

NBA analysts and bloggers have already projected D’Angelo Russell along with recently signed Rui Hachimura, recently drafted Jalen Hood-Schifino, and their 2029 first round pick as the team’s likely trade deadline package. That assumes the Lakers have already made up their mind to move on from Russell, which may not be the smart thing for them to do. Other than the conference finals, Russell was a great fit who had an outstanding season.

While the Lakers may ultimately trade him if the right opportunity arises, D’Angelo Russell is going to be driven to show the conference finals were just a fluke and he’s capable of being a championship starting point guard.

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5. Can Jaxson Hayes force his way into Lakers starting lineup?

From all reports, the Los Angeles Lakers are serious about wanting to start 23-year old Jaxson Hayes at center so they can play two bigs and move Anthony Davis to power forward and LeBron James to small forward.

The Lakers believe Hayes can start at center like McGee and Howard did during the 2020 championship run, allowing Anthony Davis to play his preferred four and giving team front court positional size advantage.
For the Lakers’ two bigs plan to work, Jaxson Hayes will have to prove he can do what Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones could not do last summer, which is prove he can be the starting center on a championship team.

Jaxson Hayes is the biggest wild card on a team full of wild cards. A former #8 pick in the draft, Jaxson has the talent and athleticism to be a starter. Now he needs to show the drive and dedication to become a champion.

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6. Can Rui Hachimura play in regular season like in playoffs?

After enjoying a career record playoff, Rui Hachimura was rewarded with a 3-year $51 million contract from the Lakers. The question the Lakers have now is whether they’re going to get ‘regular season Rui’ or ‘playoff Rui.’

Frankly, there’s no way ‘regular season Lakers’ get the full ‘playoff Rui,’ who set a record last playoffs shooting 48.7% from deep, which reduced his previous 60.0% playoff 3-point percentage to his still league best 51.9%.
But that doesn’t mean that the Lakers are not going to be thrilled with the more confident, versatile, and impactful version of Rui Hachimura that Darvin Ham, Phil Handy, and LeBron James have somehow molded.

Expect Rui Hachimura to show why he was a #9 pick in the draft and prove he can be a starter or play starter minutes as one of the Lakers’ first players off the bench. Rui could be a candidate for league Most Improved Player.

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7. Can Gabe Vincent shoot in regular season like in playoffs?

Like Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent had a sizzling playoff performance for the Miami Heat, shooting a sizzling 37.8% from deep on 6.1 attempts per game making it all the way to the NBA Finals before losing to the Nuggets.

Vincent’s signing is part of the Lakers’ offseason effort to upgrade their 3-point shooting. The Lakers see him a likely shooting upgrade and possible defensive upgrade over Dennis Schroder, the team’s starter last season.
Gabe’s needs to prove he can shoot 37.8% from deep in the regular season, which would be a dramatic improvement over his journeyman 33.9% career regular season and 35.3 career playoff 3-point shooting stats.

Vincent will get a chance in camp to take the starting point guard job away from D’Angelo Russell and could be the Lakers steal in free agency if he can shoot like he did in the playoffs and replace Schroder’s solid defense.

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8. Can Taurean Prince be the Lakers’ free agency steal?

Signing Taurean Prince was one of the first moves the Los Angeles Lakers made when free agency opened, locking up the highly coveted 3&D combo forward to a 1-year, $4.5 million contract using their Bi-Annual exception.

Prince gives the Lakers the bigger 3&D wing they’ve desperately needed to guard the elite wing scorers in the West. The 6′ 7′ Prince has a 7′ wingspan and shot over 38% from deep the last four years on 3.5 attempts per game. Signing for the BAE already makes Taurean a free agent steal for the Lakers but what they’ve hoping for is the young veteran who’s a plus defender and proven sniper who can backup either LeBron James or Anthony Davis.

If Taurean Prince plays solid D and shoots over 38% from deep on 3 to 4 attempts per game, he’ll play big minutes, be one of the Lakers’ steals of this free agency, and be an even more coveted free agent next summer.

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9. Can Jarred Vanderbilt fix his offensive deficiencies?

As is always the case, the deeper a team gets into the playoffs, the more pressure identifies and takes advantage of its weaknesses. That’s what happened to D’Angelo Russell and it’s what happened to Jarred Vanderbilt.

Vando went from the immediate defensive spark that carried the Lakers into the play-in game and then the playoffs themselves to the player teams refused to guard in the corner, making the Lakers play 4 on 5 on offense. Vando must improve his 3-point shooting and ability to score when given the ball in traffic in the paint. Early reports say he’s changed his shooting stroke and has been working with Phil Handy on improving post moves.

Jarred is in the final year of his contract and could be in for a raise if he shows he’s no longer a liability on offense. He’ll get chances because his defense is so critical but his role and minutes will depend on his offense.

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10. Can Cam Reddish break into Lakers 10-man rotation?

The Los Angeles Lakers completed an unusual 2019 NBA Draft Trifecta by signing Cam Reddish, #10 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, to go with #8 pick Jaxson Hayes and #10 pick Rui Hachimura already on the Lakers’ roster.

Like Hayes and Hachimura, Reddish is still looking to find a team where he can finally put his elite talent and athleticism together and find a team on which he can become the best possible player he’s capable of becoming. The Lakers are betting they can do the same for Hayes and Reddish as they may have done for Hachimura. Much as he was a huge rooter for Rui last season, LeBron has already come out and predicted big things for Cam.

Of the three 2019 top-10 draft picks, Cam Reddish is probably the biggest disappointment and has the biggest mountain to climb. Earning his way into a potential championship Lakers’ rotation would be a great first step.

While the Lakers were able to get bigger, deeper, and better this offseason, the more important question is did they do enough to upgrade their league worst 3-point shooting to win their league best 18th NBA championship?

At last season’s trade deadline, the Lakers were averaging a league worst 10.5 made threes per game and shooting an NBA 25th worst 34.6% from deep. That’s when Rob Pelinka started his makeover of the Lakers’ roster.
He added Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt at deadline and Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Maxwell Lewis this offseason.

Rob Pelinka was universally praised for the Lakers’ outstanding offseason as they continued building a team better tailored to fit 30-year old Anthony Davis’ championship window rather 38-year old LeBron James’ timeline. Rumors about the Lakers wanting to start Hayes at the five, Davis at the four, and James at the three have only exacerbated concern over the team’s spacing problems and raised more questions about their 3-point shooting.

The Lakers know the key to winning with LeBron James is surrounding him with elite 3-point shooters and defenders. The challenge is those are the exact same players every team in the league needs and is looking for.
The Lakers showed they could overcome poor 3-point shooting by winning the points-in-the-paint and made-free-throws battles. They have a legit shot this season to turn 3-point shooting from a disadvantage to an advantage.

So let’s look at whether Rob Pelinka and the Lakers did enough at the trade deadline and this offseason to upgrade their 3-point shooting performance to give them a legitimate chance to win their 18th NBA championship.

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What Do The Numbers Say?

The numbers say the Lakers dramatically improved their 3-point shooting with savvy moves at last year’s trade deadline and may have done same this offseason with smart signings of their own and other team’s free agents.

At last season’s trade deadline, the Lakers’ 10.5 made threes per game ranked a dead last 30 of 30, their 31.2 attempted threes per game ranked a poor 26 of 30, and their 34.6% three-point percentage a dismal 25 of 30.
After the deadline, the Lakers addition of Russell, Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Hachimura and emergence of Reaves saw the Lakers jump to a 19th best 11.5 threes per game and a 16th best 36.1% from deep for those 26 games.

The above chart shows 3-point shooting stats of the Lakers 11 veterans for last year as well as projections for next year. While reasonable estimates, the numbers project the Lakers’ 3-point shooting will take another jump.
Th projection is the Lakers jump to 15 made threes on more than 40 attempts per game, which would put them in top-five in 3-point makes and takes. The resulting 37.1% would rank in lower half of the top-ten.

Heading into the next season, the Lakers have four players who are proven near 40% 3-point shooters in Reaves, Russell, Christie, and Prince plus two players who just shot over 40% in the playoffs in Hachimura and Vincent. That’s a solid core of six high percentage shooters who should transform the Lakers’ offense though they‘ll still need LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Jaxson Hayes to display better 3-point shot selection and accuracy.

While likely a best case scenario, the Lakers have a realistic chance to finish next season as one of the top-ten 3-point shooting teams in the league, making and taking 50% more threes than they did last season.

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What Else Can The Lakers Do?

The most important thing the Lakers can do now to upgrade their 3-point shooting is use their remaining two roster spots on stretch bigs to balance their roster’s 3-point shooting. Signing Christian Wood should be priority.

Right now, the Lakers’ 3-point shooting strength is concentrated in their guards and small forwards. None of their front court players — Hachimura, Vanderbilt, James, Davis, or Hayes — are proven quality 3-point shooters. That’s why Christian Wood is such an attractive 14th player for the Lakers to add to their current roster. Wood’s a career 37.9 three-point shooter on 3.5 attempts per game who’s shot better than 37.4% for four straight seasons.

Adding Wood would also give the Lakers insurance against Anthony Davis missing games due to injuries, especially on the offensive end where L.A. does not have a center who can impact the game offensively if AD is out. Frankly, I think adding a player like Wood makes so much sense the Lakers should consider signing-and-trading for him to obtain his Bird rights and to be able to keep him long-term on a team friendly deal if he worked out.

The Lakers’ coaching staff’s biggest offseason challenge is going to be fixing the broken 3-point shooting strokes of power forwards LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, and center Jaxson Hayes.
The Lakers are hopeful Rui Hachimura, who shot a league best 48.7% from deep on 2.4 three-point attempts per game in last season’s playoffs can turn into a consistent near 40% 3-point shooter regular season and playoffs.

The Lakers need to add one and preferably two stretch bigs to their roster so they can create realistic 5-player lineups with legitimate 3-point gravity. Lakers need stretch versions at both power forward and center positions.