Despite having the second best record and top rated defense in the league, there are obvious chinks in the Los Angeles Lakers’ armor that threaten to derail their quest to repeat and win their league-best 18th championship.
Anybody watching the Lakers this season understands the team has serious problems protecting the rim, shooting threes, and scoring in the half court, especially when neither LeBron James or Anthony Davis are on the court. That’s not to malign how the additions of Gasol and Harrell have helped the Lakers offensively. Marc’s elite passing and 3-point shooting threat and Trezz’s low post scoring and energy have clearly been pluses offensively.
But the Lakers’ centers aren’t going to suddenly start protecting the rim, nor will their shooters consistently start raining threes, or a legitimate third star magically emerge to help LeBron James and Anthony Davis carry the load. That means the only realistic way for the Lakers to address these serious issues and bolster their championship chances is to make trades to fix the weaknesses and upgrade their roster before the March 25 trade deadline.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the options the Lakers have to improve their rim protection, enhance their 3-point shooting, and find a third star to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis via a midseason trade.
1. THE LAKERS NEED BETTER RIM PROTECTION
While the Lakers still have the top defense in the league and are second in blocked shots, the eye test and other stats clearly show they miss the rim protection provided last season by JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard.
The Lakers moved on from McGee and Howard when they changed their defensive philosophy in last year’s playoffs by having their centers trap, hedge, and double the ball off screens rather than playing drop coverage. Unfortunately, replacing McGee and Howard with Gasol and Harrell has both hurt the Lakers rim protection and failed to improve their perimeter defense. What the Lakers need is a modern center who can do both.
That means the Lakers should be looking for versatile centers who can defend inside and outside, which eliminates lumbering low post bigs like Drummond or Whiteside and favors mobile bigs like Noel or Cauley-Stein. The dream targets are modern centers with size and mobility like Myles Turner, Chris Boucher, and Christian Wood but the Lakers shouldn’t ignore dynamic athletic small ball centers like Julius Randle and John Collins.
While the Lakers would like to make a move, they don’t need to since they already have the best modern center in the NBA in Anthony Davis. But adding a versatile defensive center like Noel or WCS could be a smart move.
2. THE LAKERS NEED BETTER 3-POINT SHOOTING
After shooting a sizzling 39.8% and ranking 3rd in the league through the first 13 games of the season, the Lakers 3-point shooting reverted to the mean and fell to just 33.3% and 29th in the league over the last 14 games.
Despite the 3-point shooting slump, the Lakers have been able to continue to win at the same rate over the last 14 games as in the first 13 games though their margin of victory dropped dramatically from 10.8 to 5.5 points. The Lakers’ poor 3-point shooting reached rock bottom the last 3 games as they failed to shoot 30%, having to go into overtime twice and come from more than 20 points behind twice just to squeak out close wins at home.
While they’re the 14th most accurate 3-point shooting team in the league at 36.4%, the Lakers struggle to create spacing on offense because their 11.0 made threes and 30.3 taken threes per game are the 4th lowest in the NBA. The formula for winning with LeBron James has always been to surround him with elite prolific 3-point shooters. Right now, the Lakers roster simple does not have enough high percentage or high volume 3-point shooters.
Current Laker players struggling with their threes who are possible trading chips include Gasol, Morris, Schroder, Horton-Tucker, and Caldwell-Pope, who has been in dismal shooting slump after a stellar start to the season. Potentially available 3-point shooting upgrades the Lakers might target include guards Lowry, Ellington, LaVine, Bledsoe, Powell, and Mills, forwards Markkanen and Randle, and centers Boucher and Vucevic.
Like centers who can defend in the post and perimeter, there just aren’t any elite shooters who are good defenders sitting around waiting to be signed. That means the Lakers will need to trade to upgrade their 3-point shooting.
3. THE LAKERS NEED A LEGITIMATE THIRD STAR
The emergence of the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstar Big Three of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving as the Lakers possible NBA Finals foe may force the Lakers to consider making a blockbuster trade for a third star.
There’s a good case to be made that two megastars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis, arguably the best two players in the league, and a deep and talented roster can still beat a team with three superstars and a weak roster. That’s certainly true if you believe defense wins championships since the Lakers have the top rated defense while the Nets’ defense has major holes. But the offensive firepower of the Nets does present a daunting challenge.
That’s why the Lakers would be wise to adjust their midseason trade plans to upgrade their rim protection and 3-point shooting to include a legitimate third star to improve their lineups when LeBron or AD aren’t on the floor. We saw during the recent two game stretch without AD that the Lakers were fortunate to win in overtime against the OKC Thunder how the defending champs can still struggle when either James or Davis are not playing.
The Lakers don’t want to face a Nets team where they face a 3 to 2 or 2 to 1 superstar disadvantage all game long. They don’t necessarily need a third superstar but clearly need a legitimate All-Star to help LeBron and AD. Possible candidates include Bradley Beal, Zach LaVine, Victor Oladipo, Kyle Lowry, and Eric Bledsoe. Other outside-the-box candidates could include Ben Simmons, Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, or Draymond Green.
Since they don’t have first round draft picks as chips, trading for any of the star players listed above is going to require the Lakers to give up valuable players to land the needed third star to improve their chances of repeating.
1. THE LAKERS NEED BETTER RIM PROTECTION
2. THE LAKERS NEED BETTER 3-POINT SHOOTING
3. THE LAKERS NEED A LEGITIMATE THIRD STAR
The more I think about the Lakers current roster and obvious needs, the more I think there’s a good chance the Lakers will be looking hard to make a mega deal for a third star before the trade deadline. I also think the impetus to make that deal is the threat of the Superstar Big Three that the Nets represent. I don’t see the Lakers wanting to play the Nets when they will be facing a constant 3 to 2 or 2 to 1 disadvantage in superstars on the floor. While defense wins championships, superstars’ great offense is the one big weapon that regularly beats great defense.
The Lakers need to pursue a trade for a third superstar who is both an elite and prolific 3-point shooter. I don’t want to go up against a Net’s Superstar Big Three that are all high percentage and high volume 3-point shooters with the Lakers current portfolio of 3-point shooters. The Lakers need a superstar who takes and makes a lot of threes. That’s a top priority. In other words, the Lakers need a trad that helps fix their need for better 3-point shooting problem and a third star to help LeBron and AD.
Finally, the Lakers also need to add a modern defensive center who can protect the rim and witch and rotate to guard smaller players on the perimeter. That’s going to be key against a team like the Nets who have three elite scorers who can score at all three levels. I think Trezz will be fine in a scramble small ball trapping, hedging, and doubling scheme. He did a great job against Jokic last time and tonight should be a second test.
The problem is Marc Gasol. I’m thinking maybe with the injury to Mitchell Robinson’s hand, the Lakers might have an opportunity to pull off a Gasol for Noel trade. I would have no problem with the Lakers starting Nerlens Noel to bolster our starting defense even at the cost of some spacing. Noel is al elite shot blocker and nimble and mobile enough to defend at all three levels. That’s where I would start the trade talk.
The price for acquiring say a Zach LaVine or Victor Oladipo? Probably starts with Dennis Schroder, KCP, and Kyle Kuzma. You can include Kuzma in a multiple player trade whereas it’s almost impossible to do it in a 1-on-1 trade. Lakers may have to also give an asset to a third team to get a first rounder to include. Big challenge but I think one necessary if the Lakers are going to repeat and position themselves for a possible threepeat.
Very interested to see what you think. Will the Lakers try to make a mega trade? If so, who do you think they will targete? Who do you think they may have a shot to get?