Lakers Rumors: Expert Links Longtime LA Trade Target to the Purple and Gold
It's the offseason and the Los Angeles Lakers are facing a familiar scenario.
Needing to upgrade their three point shooting.
In a league that has long emphasized the perimeter game, Los Angeles remains an outlier in that department.
Sure, the team's duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis do take threes on occasion, but for the most part, Los Angeles preferred method of attack is through getting to the rim.
That resulted in the Lakers leading the league in free throw attempts this season with 2,182 -- good for 26.6 attempts per game.
That said, it would be helpful for the Lakers to open up their game with a reliable floor spacer, as that would assist the team in diversifying their offense and also give LeBron James an option for a catch and shoot opportunity when he attacks the rim.
As for who could help in that department, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report said Indiana Pacers guard Buddy Hield would be an option there.
"After a few sub-40.0 percent shooting seasons from deep, the 30-year-old rebounded in a big way this past year. He nailed 42.0 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes and was even more dangerous on pull-up attempts, cashing in 43.8 percent of his looks.
This kind of success from the outside led to 16.8 points a night and an overall mark of 42.5 percent from three, good for ninth-best in the NBA."
Swartz later listed the Lakers as one of the three "best trade landing spots" for the sharpshooter along with the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Hield's 42 percent mark on catch-and-shoot threes would be particularly of interest for the Lakers, given how defenses around the league generally collapse on James when he drives into the paint.
The seven-year veteran has been listed as a potential Laker since before he was drafted in 2016, and if Los Angeles is able to bring Hield over, it would help the team substantially next season and beyond if the Lakers are able to come to a contract extension with him.
Of course, nothing is in the works between the Pacers and Lakers as far as what's known, but with the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday, Hield's certainly someone to keep an eye on.
