If there’s one skill for a player to thrive playing alongside LeBron James, it’s this: 3-point shooting. The Los Angeles Lakers still could use more of it ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Last season, the Lakers ranked 29th in spot-up efficiency with an output of 0.949 points per possession. The only team worse? The Oklahoma City Thunder.
Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk accounted for a combined 26.7 percent of the Lakers’ spot-up possessions. Outside of LeBron James, they were the only Lakers players to produce at least 1 point per possession on spot-up attempts with a minimum of 125 possessions.
Both Anthony and Monk share something in common: they are currently not signed by the Los Angeles Lakers.
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The Lakers did use their taxpayer MLE to sign Lonnie Walker IV in free agency. His perimeter shooting execution has been on a sharp decline since 2019. He shot 40.6 percent in 2019, then went 35.5 percent in 2020, and is coming off a campaign at 31.4 percent.
If perimeter shooting is a priority for the Lakers to address, a trade for Buddy Hield from the Indiana Pacers could be an option to consider.
Here’s a trade package to get it done:
