With the trade deadline inching closer, the Los Angeles Lakers still have yet to make a move despite being linked in rumors since before the season started. Darvin Ham’s team has improved as the season has gone on, but there are still some major weaknesses on the roster.
The most notable is the team’s lack of 3-point shooting. The Lakers rank dead last in 3-pointers made per game and 27th in 3-point percentage. The importance of surrounding LeBron James with shooters is well known and while Ham remains focused on the Lakers getting their own players healthy, he still made sure to note that adding more shooting never hurts.
“Our focus, obviously we’ve done our due diligence and looked at the people that are available, but also our primary focus first and foremost is getting our guys back healthy,” Ham said prior to the Lakers’ eight-point victory over the Houston Rockets. “We talked about a couple of guys that have been out like Austin and Lonnie, so once they’re reevaluated here in a couple of days then we’ll be able to pivot to a direction that we see that’s gonna serve us best.
“I can’t really pinpoint a need at this point, shooting always helps, but at the end of the day, our team is coming together. They’ve been playing really well together. It sucks that we’ve had guys out for various reasons, injuries, illnesses, but as we start to get these guys back then we’ll be able to better identify if there’s anything that we want to do.”
Ham even brought it up again in an NBA TV interview, jokingly saying he’ll take both Candace Parker and Jamal Crawford on the Lakers roster, but especially Crawford because of his shooting, via PickUpHoop:
“We need somebody who could shoot some damn threes. Not just shoot them but make them.” pic.twitter.com/M5mig7SshC
— pickuphoop (@pickuphoop) January 17, 2023
While the Lakers have some players who can shoot the ball well, they don’t have anyone who would truly be considered a 3-point marksman that must be accounted for at all times. The best shooter percentage-wise for the Lakers is Max Christie at 42.2 percent, but he averages less than two attempts per game and doesn’t even qualify to make the league leaders list.
The Lakers don’t have anyone in the top-50 of 3-point percentage with the best being Lonnie Walker IV at 38.4 percent on over five attempts per game. The Lakers will continue to do their due diligence, but Ham knows as well as anyone else that bringing in an absolute sniper from deep will take this Lakers team to the next level.
Lakers looking for a deal that improves them over the next three years
As for exactly what the Lakers are looking for in a deal, that has seemed to change over the last couple of months. A recent report is suggesting that the Lakers could be more likely now to not make a deal and wait until the offseason.
This latest report suggests that the Lakers’ top priority is a deal that improves them over the next three seasons and if that means waiting until the offseason when they’ll have salary cap space and another tradable draft pick, then they will do that.
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