re: 2022-23 Lakers Thread

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In the very early stages of the season, Westbrook has had some spurts of solid defense and energy plays, but has also shot just 28.9 percent from the field and 8.3 percent from 3-point land. As a team, the Lakers are shooting just 21 percent from 3. While Anthony Davis and LeBron James have played at their usual high level to start the year and Lonnie Walker IV and Juan Toscano-Anderson have been bright spots, the Lakers are still trying to find the best rotations to provide shooting and playmaking around their Big 2.

The Lakers and Pacers extensively discussed a potential deal sending Myles Turner and Buddy Hield to L.A. during the offseason, as The Athletic reported in early October, but no deal formed ahead of training camp. The Lakers and Pacers discussed several packages, but Indiana’s demand for both of the Lakers’ first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 prevented a deal from coming to fruition. Turner suffered an ankle sprain during warmups before the Pacers’ season opener last Wednesday, but is expected to return soon.

In a perfect world, the Lakers had hoped Westbrook would find a complimentary role in Ham’s system, but as sources have told The Athletic over the past month, the organization planned to keep an open mind with trade opportunities to improve the team. Potential trade partners across the league have wanted one or two unprotected first-rounders from the Lakers in all deal frameworks, which creates a battle over price and value.

Several more trade avenues are expected to open as the season goes on, as teams fall out of the postseason race and turn their attention toward top prospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.

Charlotte’s Terry Rozier emerged as a trade target for the Lakers in the offseason and their interest in him remains high, multiple sources tell The Athletic. The Lakers and Hornets held discussions about a possible three- or four-team trade during the summer, and hold him in high regard among their possible trade possibilities, but the dynamic Hornets guard’s availability will be entirely predicated on the franchise’s direction for the future and its play as the season goes on. Despite LaMelo Ball being sidelined with a Grade 2 ankle sprain and Rozier recently suffering his own sprained ankle, the Hornets and coach Steve Clifford are off to a 2-1 start in the Eastern Conference.

The Lakers have also held preliminary discussions with the Spurs in recent weeks, sources said, showing interest in three-and-D wing Josh Richardson. The 6-foot-5 Richardson has averaged nearly 13 points to start the season, shooting 47.1 percent on 5.67 three-point attempts per game. So expect the Lakers to continue to keep tabs with the Spurs, Hornets and Pacers as a potential trade partner as the season wears on.

For now, the Lakers appear determined to give the current roster a proper sample size of 20-to-25 games and assess their needs. Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka is tasked with balancing the team’s current state versus the future when using the only two first-round picks eligible to be traded for the remainder of this decade. And for the Lakers, the proper deal will take patience, strategy, internal resolve and growth.

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What’s amazing is that, according to Second Spectrum, the Lakers have had the league’s second-best shot quality in regard to the type of shot, its location, and how contested it is. The catch is that the metric doesn’t take into account the quality of the shooters. Russell Westbrook has the worst effective field goal percentage (30.3%) among 100 players with at least 30 field goal attempts, but he’s not alone when it comes to shooting poorly from the perimeter. Eight different Lakers have attempted more than five 3-pointers and all eight have shot worse than 30% on those attempts.

The Lakers should probably adopt the Raptors’ approach and just crash the boards like crazy, knowing that not many of their shots are going in. But they rank last in offensive rebounding percentage, having grabbed just 22.3% of available offensive boards and totaled just 22 second-chance points over their three games.

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