As a trade for Anthony Davis by the deadline was steadily growing increasingly unlikely, the Los Angeles Lakers pivoted and acquired Reggie Bullock from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for rookie Svi Mykhailiuk and a future second-round draft pick.
Once the dust settled, Bullock was one of two trades the Lakers completed — the other being for Mike Muscala — in effort to address their shooting deficiency. While Bullock has seen a decline in his three-point shooting, he shot a career-best 44.5 percent from deep last season.
Although the trade was announced midway through the week, Bullock did not join the Lakers until a few days later in Philadelphia. He participated in one practice with the team, then found himself part of the starting lineup against the 76ers the following afternoon.
He viewed that as confidence from head coach Luke Walton and was glad to have gotten it out of the way, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I mean, it’s good. Obviously coach believes in me if he throws me out there in the fire like that. Like I said, I did some great things on the defensive end. A lot of offensive adjustments that I can make to being more aggressive in the game. … I’m glad they threw me out there because now I got that out of the way. Now it’s just on to basketball.”
Bullock was tasked with chasing J.J. Redick off screens, which proved futile as he finished with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting. It didn’t all fall on Bullock, however, as the Lakers struggled as a whole defensively despite it being a point of emphasis from head coach Luke Walton.
Offensively, Bullock didn’t yet provide the shooting the Lakers hope to receive. He shot just 1-for-5 and missed both attempts behind the arc.
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