The Los Angeles Lakers have the month of June to figure out their plans for the 2023 offseason, as the NBA Draft sits less than three weeks away and the start of free agency is less than four weeks away. Beyond deciding which of their own free agents to retain and how, they also need to find way to improve the roster.
The Lakers made it to the Western Conference Finals after making a series of strong moves at the trade deadline, but were ultimately swept by the Denver Nuggets. Running it back is a strong — and likely — option, but the Lakers still would have some decisions to make in that case.
One of those decisions, reportedly, is the priority of adding 3-point shooting. The Lakers ranked 11th out of the 16 playoff teams in 3-point percentage and could be looking to add shooting this offseason, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic:
A top priority for the Lakers next season is 3-point shooting. With James and Davis as the stars, there always will be a limit to the volume of attempts they get up. The bread and butter of the offense will be James’ downhill attacks and Davis’ interior dominance, but a better cast of shooters would open up the paint even more and create better shots as a consequence.
There are several avenues for the Lakers to add 3-point shooting this offseason. The first is doing so through the draft. UConn guard Jordan Hawkins is a player that has been mocked to the Lakers on multiple occasions due to the fit as a shooter, but it’s unclear if he’ll be available to L.A. at No. 17.
There have also been hypothetical trades once again involving Indiana Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield. Fred VanVleet is another name with a strong 3-point resume that has been tied to the Lakers due to Klutch Sports.
There are also much simpler options like keeping Malik Beasley and hoping for a positive regression in his typical shooting numbers. There could also be some natural progression from players like Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
Either way, the Lakers are certainly searching for answers to improve the shooting around LeBron James and Anthony Davis next season.
Max Christie sees opportunity to crack rotation
Max Christie is another player on the Lakers roster that projects to be a solid shooter. If the Lakers are going for the internal improvement route, giving Christie a legitimate chance in the rotation could work out in their favor. Christie believes the opportunity is there.
“They said there’s an opportunity for me to take,” Christie said at his exit interview. “Obviously it’s not gonna be given to me, but there’s an opportunity to have an impact on winning on the floor and be in that rotation for a long part of the season. Obviously that’s my goal, obviously is to play as much basketball as I can in terms of being in the rotation and being on the floor in order to impact winning.
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