Los Angeles Lakers: Team’s biggest early-season disappointments
3-point shooting
Earlier this year, general manager Robert Pelinka asserted that the Lakers’ offseason goal was to make upgrades in the shooting department. Well, based on what we’ve seen so far in 2017, the “upgrades” they made haven’t helped much, at least from behind the arc.
Sure, they added Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Josh Hart to inject some extra range into this lineup. Even Brook Lopez figured to bring some capable 3-point shooting to the floor. Unfortunately, through the first few weeks, we’ve seen some awful outside shooting from this roster as a whole.
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In fact, it’s actually gotten worse since last season.
In 2016-17, the Lakers connected on 34.6 percent of their 3-pointers, good for 22nd in the NBA. This season, they’ve managed to sink only 28.9 percent — Los Angeles is the only team in the league shooting under 30 percent from downtown. It’s been ugly, although the overall struggles from 3 can be traced back to a few particular players.
First and foremost, Lonzo Ball has been awful from deep. He’s made only 13 of his 59 3-point shots (22 percent), although you can probably tie that into his overall struggles from the field. Caldwell-Pope, touted as a 3-and-D talent, has been much more D than 3, shooting 28.9 percent from deep. Kuzma is hitting at a 30.2 percent clip from downtown, but hasn’t had as much volume.
Those numbers need to get better, and fast. It’ll start with Ball taking smarter shots and making the open ones, which should elevate that overall effectiveness from 3 significantly. Then, if KCP and Kuzma can improve while Lopez and Brandon Ingram keep doing what they’re doing, the Lakers will be golden.