Lakers News: Writer Pitches Trade With One Of League's Worst Teams For Shooter
Six seasons into LeBron James' tenure with your Los Angeles Lakers, the 2023-24 vintage remains one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA, despite the (we thought) established intel that maximizing any LeBron James club would require surrounding James with three-point shooting and versatile defenders.
As Zach Kram of The Ringer observes, LA has never been a particularly good three-point shooting club, during any of LeBron James' six seasons in town.
The highest LA has finished in made three-pointers in a given James year (and the only time it has finished within the league's top 20) is 18th, in 2021-22, and its best three-point conversion rate relative to the rest of the league has been 21st, a mark Los Angeles has achieved in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
So far in 2023-24, LA ranks 20th in three-point shooting rate (35.7%) and dead last in made triples (30.4).
With the league's February 8th trade deadline fast approaching, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press believes it could behoove both sides if the lowly Detroit Pistons, the worst team in the league by record, shipped out veteran swingman Alec Burks and his $10.4 million expiring contract to Los Angeles in exchange for the long-term three-year, $33 million salary of long-injured bench point guard Gabe Vincent, rookie second round draft pick Maxwell Lewis, and LA's 2027 second round selection.
"Burks would provide a scoring lift to their underwhelming guard rotation," Sankofa writes. "The Pistons would receive a well-rounded veteran guard in Vincent, who would give the backcourt a heady defender who can also knock down 3s. Vincent has been limited to five games this season due to an ailing left knee, for which he underwent arthroscopic surgery in late December, keeping him out until mid-February at least."
Burks is currently averaging 12.2 points on a .397/.399/.887 slash line, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists a night. He's connecting on that elite long range shooting percentage via a volume 5.5 three-point attempts. He'd be a valuable contributor on a Lakers club in desperate need of help from deep.
"Vincent has two years remaining on his deal after this season, adding to the Pistons' current logjam at point guard but providing a solution as a stabilizing presence should they look to move on from [Monte] Morris and Killian Hayes," Sankofa adds. "In Lewis, the Pistons would receive a 6-7 2023 second-round pick who excelled as a three-level scorer during two seasons at Pepperdine. As a sophomore, he averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 46.8% shooting and 34.8% shooting from 3."
As Sankofa notes, this would represent a long-term play for Detroit, given that Vincent will remain out for at least the next month.
In Kram's piece, he accurately cites fast break guard defense, offensive rebounding, three-point defense, and the team's dearth of volume long range shooters as some of the club's biggest liabilities. Where once Los Angeles under Frank Vogel was one of the best defenses in the NBA, the club now ranks an underwhelming 12th in defensive rating, at 114.2 points allowed per 100 possessions. Offense has rarely been the team's strong suit, but its 112.7 offensive rating is good for just the 23rd-best such metric in the league.
Clearly, the Lakers need help everywhere. Floor spacing in the backcourt would be a good place to start.
