Los Angeles Lakers: Signs are there for improved 3-point shooting

The Los Angeles Lakers may lack the most proficient 3-point shooters, but there are plenty of signs that they will make a big jump in efficiency from deep.

It’s no secret the two flaws heading into the 2018-19 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers reside along the 3-point line and at center. While there are creative ways to cover the holes for the latter, such as downsizing and using 4s at the 5, the former is tough to improve on given the difficulty of increasing efficiency with a jump shot.

The Lakers don’t have the strongest list of 3-point shooters on their roster and weren’t a great shooting team by any measures last season. They ranked 17th in the NBA in 3-point shooting frequency (34.7 percent), but shot 34.8 percent (29th in the NBA) on 28.8 3-point attempts per game (15th) last season.

In terms of volume, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma were the strongest shooters from deep. KCP shot a career-high 38.3 percent on 5.6 3-point attempts per game, while Kuz shot 36.6 percent on 5.6 attempts per game. Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart both shot higher percentages, but only attempted 1.8 and 3.1 triples per game, respectively.

To cloud things up, the Lakers didn’t exactly bring in a group of sharpshooters this season. Rajon Rondo (30.9 percent for his career), Lance Stephenson (30.3 percent) and Michael Beasley (35.2 percent on 1.5 attempts per game) are talented in their own rights, with the former two having plenty of playoff experience, but shooting from deep is not at the top of their skills.

There’s an expected jump to be made from some players, such as Lonzo Ball, who is showing off a slight change to his jump shot this summer and improved his percentages in January. The previously mentioned Josh Hart is expected to increase his playing time as well, and his shooting prowess has grown in his one year removed from college.

Also, the Lakers addressed outside shooting with their draft picks in the 2018 NBA Draft. They selected sharpshooting big man Moritz Wagner (career 38.5 percent on 3-pointers in college) and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (career 40.9 percent). Wagner is nursing a knee injury, but Svi has been turning heads since NBA Summer League with his shooting ability from deep.

Outside of the players, having LeBron James on the roster is a great way to improve a team’s shooting. The season before he joined the Miami Heat in 2010, the Heat ranked 17th in 3-point attempts per game (17.4) and 19th in 3-point percentage (34.6 percent). LeBron’s first season in Miami saw the Miami rank 15th in 3-point attempts per game (18.0), but spiked to seventh in 3-point percentage (37.0 percent).

This trend continued when he returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Cavs ranking 20th in 3-point attempts and 18th in 3-point percentage. When LeBron returned, they jumped to second in the NBA in 3-point attempts and fifth in 3-point percentage.

There are some factors that play a massive role in this, such as improved rosters and having spot-up shooters placed around LeBron for large stretches of the game. But there’s something to be said about James and his ability to elevate shooters.

Hitting teammates in their sweet spots on the court with perfect passes is an underrated aspect of improving shooting percentages. LeBron already discussed this after a couple days of practices and his desire to learn where players like the ball on the court. His immense basketball IQ and passing ability allows him to put the ball where players feel most comfortable on the floor, therefore increasing the chances they make their shots, especially when defenders are so fixated on LeBron’s overall game.

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The shooting on this Lakers team may take time to jell and the lack of shooting understandably concerns people.

However, there are plenty of signs that point to the Lakers surprising people with their prolificacy from deep. Add Rondo’s pinpoint passing with LeBron’s and the expected jumps of the current Lakers players, and this could be one of the best shooting teams in the NBA.