Last season’s heroic climb from the bottom of the Western Conference standings to the Play-In Tournament was special for the Los Angeles Lakers. That was due in part to L.A. being active at the trade deadline.
Shooting was a primary target last February and on paper, they did that by bringing in D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley. But, Beasley struggled to hit shots consistently, resulting in little to no minutes during the playoffs.
The Lakers declined Beasley’s player option but were rumored to want to bring him back. He wound up signing with the Bucks instead, and has played well so far this season.
In a recent interview with Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report, Beasley revealed that he turned down more money from the Lakers to sign a veteran minimum contract with the Bucks:
“Free agency was tough for me in a couple ways. I didn’t know where I wanted to be and what type of deal I wanted to do because of my production. A lot of people don’t base it off of what you did the last couple years overall, they kind of go off your last couple games or whatever the case may be. I wasn’t in the best position with leverage team-wise. So the Lakers wanted to re-sign me but on a smaller deal for about $6 million. I could’ve gotten more if I would’ve stayed probably. Also the Dallas Mavericks, I had a chance with Dallas. They were offering about $3-6 million, around that range. But with the Lakers, there was a lot of unknown.
“I didn’t know with Austin Reaves signing again, I had to be smart about that, about playing time and what my role would be. Then with Dallas, obviously you got a lot of primary ball-handlers and shooters on that team already. So I kind of scoped it out, and then Milwaukee was in the mix. Jon [Horst] is such a great person, we talk a lot, and he was like you have an opportunity to start here.
“You have a chance to win a championship. I think for me, most importantly, some veterans around my team. Most of the teams I’ve been on, besides LeBron and AD, they’ve been young. Minnesota, Utah, all of them being young. So I’m the vet on the team, you know what I’m saying?”
Since leaving the purple and gold, the 27-year-old is shooting an impressive 46.9% from the 3-point line on 6.3 attempts. For a Lakers team that has struggled with outside shooting, that’s disappointing to see.
Beasley is a career 38.5% shooter from distance, a skillset that the Lakers need alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But his percentages dropped mightily to 26.9% during last year’s postseason run. With L.A. ranked 24th in 3-point percentage this year, the search for outside shooting continues.
Austin Reaves: Lakers’ 3-point shooting must improve
Ever since winning the In-Season Tournament, it has been a downward spiral for the Lakers, a key factor in that is 3-point shooting. If the purple and gold want to turn things around, Austin Reaves says that the team’s 3-point shooting has to improve.
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