Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Los Angeles Lakers
Patty Mills has been with the San Antonio Spurs organization since 2011 and has always been one of their consistent role players off the bench. His veteran leadership and scoring ability is something that is often overlooked and something that the Lakers could utilize in their efforts to make another championship run.
Last season with the Spurs, Patty Mills averaged 11.6 points, 1.8 assists, and shot 43.1% from the floor and 38.2% from three-point range. While he does not bring much to the table on the defensive end of the court, Mills has steadily been a productive offensive weapon over the years and has put together some solid years these last few seasons as he is now 32 years old.
It makes more sense for this organization to target another big man rather than a role player like Patty Mills, but his production on the offensive end of the court cannot go ignored. LeBron James and Dennis Schroder are the only two productive players in the Lakers backcourt and if one of them were to go down like Anthony Davis has in the frontcourt, then this team would be in huge trouble since they do not have anyone else to turn to.
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This is why trading for Patty Mills makes sense and could be worth trading for at the expense of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He is a better overall offensive talent than KCP and can shoot just as well from beyond-the-arc, which is why he could be a high-impact player the Lakers need to repeat as champions.
Los Angeles’ margin for error this year is very small, especially since there are numerous teams with championship aspirations this year, which is why they have to be willing to part ways with key role players from their championship team last year in order to possibly repeat as champions this year.
