Getty Reggie Bullock guarding James Harden.
While the Los Angeles Lakers have made some really good moves this offseason, they still don’t haven’t improved their 3-point shooting that much. Marc Gasol is a better shooter than the team’s centers from last year and Dennis Schroder is a better shooter than Rajon Rondo. However, they probably still aren’t good enough to be among the top-half of NBA teams when it comes to 3-point shooting.
With the preseason starting up, the Lakers could realize that they still need to get better from beyond the arc. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report believes Los Angeles should trade Kyle Kuzma to the New York Knicks for Reggie Bullock and a second-round pick:
L.A. should seize upon what’s left of Kuzma’s trade value and flip him for a player who actually fits. A healthy Reggie Bullock could be that player.
He’s a career 38.5 percent three-point shooter with some versatility and loads of effort on the defensive end. He hasn’t always been healthy of late—he played only 29 games in 2019-20—but the Lakers could mitigate some of that risk by also adding what should be an early second-rounder.
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Bullock Was on the Lakers Last Season
It’s interesting that Buckley would suggest a Lakers trade for Bullock considering he was on the team two seasons ago. He only played 19 games with the team and he signed with the Knicks in the offseason. He’s been in the league for seven seasons now and is a very solid 3-point shooter. While he was with the Lakers, he averaged about nine points a game.
Bullock missed most of last season with an injury and only played in 29 games. In that time, he averaged slightly over eight points a game. One thing to be concerned about is that he only averaged 34% from three when he was a Laker and only 33% last year. It might not be worth giving up Kuzma for somebody who hasn’t been shooting his best.
Lakers Expecting Big Season From Kuzma
The biggest issue with Buckley’s proposed trade is the idea that the Lakers would trade Kuzma for Bullock. While many around the league have soured on the young forward, Los Angeles is still high on him. In fact, LeBron James even said he expects Kuzma to take a big leap this year.
Bullock has been around for a while so everybody knows what to expect from him. Kuzma is coming off a down year but still has good potential if he can figure out how to be effective in his role. He’s been able to improve on the defensive end, which the Lakers love to see. If they do decide to trade Kuzma, it will most likely be in pursuit of a bigger name than Bullock. There’s no doubt that they’ve at least entertained the idea of trading him in the past but they’re going to wait until they could get a really good piece in return.
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