Getty LeBron James and Stephen Curry
The Los Angeles Lakers are considered a landing spot for Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Stephen Curry‘s brother-in-law.
On April 7, Alex Kirschenbaum of Sports Illustrated wrote that Phoenix Suns guard Damion Lee is a player the Lakers could use next season. Lee becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
“Stephen Curry’s brother-in-law has emerged as a really critical bench shooting piece for Phoenix all year, far outperforming his current veteran’s minimum deal,” Kirschenbaum wrote. “The 30-year-old may have peaked already in the league, but he has one very, very marketable skill that the long-range-challenged Lakers lack: he’s one of the NBA’s top three-point shooters. Lee is making 45% of his 3.4 triples a night, across just 20.2 minutes per. He’s not the defender or volume shooter that Malik Beasley (the guy he’d probably replace on LA’s roster) is, but his sharpshooting acumen makes him worth a look. He could also be had for much less than Beasley’s $16.5 million team option next summer.”
Lee is averaging 8.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists this season for the Suns while shooting 44.3% from the field, 45.1% from beyond the arc and 90.2% from the free-throw line. The one-time champion is second in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage.
Curry’s brother-in-law has career averages of 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists with the Atlanta Hawks, Warriors and Suns. Lee is a career 38.0% shooter from 3-point land.
LeBron James Thinks It’s Pretty Cool the Lakers Will Finish Above .500
The Lakers began this season 2-10. They were headed for another brutal campaign. However, the club turned things around after the trade deadline and will finish the season above .500. After the Lakers beat the Suns on April 7, LeBron James said that was pretty cool.
“I was just telling AD [Anthony Davis]. I was like, ‘Man, can you believe that we’re going to finish this season above .500? After everything that’s gone on this season?'” James said. “We’ve turned this thing around and it’s the regular season obviously, there’s a lot more basketball to be played, but to know that we’re going to finish a few games above .500? It’s pretty cool.”
The Lakers are in seventh place in the Western Conference standings. The Nos. 5-9 seeds are still all options depending on how the purple and gold and the other teams surrounding them in the West standings do over the weekend.
LeBron James Loves Austin Reaves
James is a huge fan of Austin Reaves, who put up 22 points and five assists against the Suns. Even though Reaves went undrafted out of Oklahoma, James always knew the guard was a smart player.
“I didn’t have expectations for him,” James said. “When you get an undrafted guy on your roster, you don’t really have much expectations for him, but I knew the player that we were getting because like I said, I did watch a lot of film on him and seen his ability to play the point, play off the ball. He had a high basketball IQ, being able to either make plays for himself or find open guys and I could just see the IQ working every time he was playing a game at Oklahoma.”
Reaves is averaging 18.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists over his last 20 games.