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Three-point shooting has been a need for the Los Angeles Lakers for the past 12 months, and even with the team’s latest additions, could still be a problematic area for the roster this season.
After all, to get the best out of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, you have to have elite sharpshooters surrounding them – and the need only grows when you add Russell Westbrook to the equation.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Ben Stinar, the Lakers should explore the possibility of trading for Doug McDermott, a well-respected sharpshooter who is averaging 40.9% on his three-point attempts throughout an eight-year NBA career.
“This is the perfect role player to add to the Lakers because he is not someone who is going to mess with chemistry. He is the kind of player that can spread the floor, and be relied upon off the bench (or as a starter) as a knock-down shooter. With Westbrook and James on the floor, they need shooters going around screens. McDermott is one of the best players in the NBA at this,” Stinar wrote in his August 6 column.
McDermott participated in 51 games for the San Antonio Spurs last season, averaging 11.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while converting on his perimeter attempts with a 42.2% clip.
McDermott is an Ideal Fit
Considering McDermott’s ability to be an impactful floor space with a limited usage rate, his presence would take touches away from the Lakers’ star players. Rather, McDermott’s entire purpose on the floor is to provide spacing for a team’s slashers and to be a scoring threat while curling off pin-downs, screens, or when posted up in the corner or on the wing.
This past season, the six-foot-eight shooter averaged 52% from the corners, and 40% from elsewhere on the perimeter, while also proving himself adept at attacking close-outs, with a 41% mid-range conversion rate.
The scoring gravity McDermott would provide the Lakers is the ideal foil to a Lakers team that boasts three stars who all excel inside of the perimeter. Sure, LeBron and Davis are both capable scoring threat’s on the perimeter, but giving them the option to penetrate in space only serves to intensify their threat to a defense, and if Los Angeles can add a shooter of McDermott’s caliber without sending too many assets the opposite way, this could be a surefire way to improve the talent they already boast.
Westbrook Likely to Remain in Los Angeles
With Ian Begley’s August 4 report that Kyrie Irving remains happy to see out his contract with the Brooklyn Nets, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to envision the Lakers finding a willing trade partner to absorb the star’s $47 million salary for the upcoming season.
As such, the Lakers might have to start planning for life with the superstar guard next season – and that means finding some additional shooters to ensure there is enough space for him to operate in the lanes.
“With regards to Kyrie Irving, I was told by a source close to Irving that he feels that he and the Nets are in a very good place right now, and comfortable heading towards the start of next season. Irving obviously opted in to the final year of his deal with Brooklyn, he can be an unrestricted free agent next summer. After a lot of trade talk, there doesn’t appear to be much there at the moment, so it’s worth noting that he feels like the Nets and he are in a good place at this point, as they head towards next season,” Begley said.
Attempting to acquire players such as McDermott, or other sharpshooters such as Buddy Hield will be the most logical way to ensure the Lakers don’t go through the same struggles as they did this season, after all, the best way to keep your stars happy, is to show them you’re capable, and committed, to winning at the highest level.
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