Los Angeles Lakers: Reggie Bullock pickup is perfect

The Los Angeles Lakers made their first trade of the season by acquiring Reggie Bullock from the Detroit Pistons, a move that is great for the team.

It wasn’t the trade everyone in the NBA has been anticipating, but the Los Angeles Lakers made a move Tuesday night that helps their team immediately and maintains cap flexibility moving forward.

The Lakers traded Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and a draft pick (likely second-round) to the Detroit Pistons for Reggie Bullock, according to The Athletic’s Frank Isola and Shams Charania.

Svi was taken with the 47th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and wasn’t a main part of the rotation, as his shot struggled for consistency in limited playing time. He was a fan favorite heading into the season and seemed poised to quietly break out, but a trade isn’t the worst thing for him. He now lands in Detroit with a better chance for minutes and development on a team with lower expectations.

As for the Lakers’ side of the equation, netting Bullock for essentially a pair of second round picks is a strong return. The wing is averaging a career-high 12.1 points per game while shooting 38.8 percent on 6.7 3-point attempts this season. He also had the best plus/minus numbers of any Piston outside of Ish Smith, who’s only appeared in 27 games this season.

Those numbers aren’t the end-all be-all to determining worth, but it’s clear how important Bullock was to the Pistons. The team lacked shooters in the worst way, and he was their one consistent threat from deep. 59.2 percent of his shots come on catch-and-shoot situations, and he’s knocking down 40.6 percent of those shots.

The Lakers are in dire need for shooting from off-ball players, so grabbing a player that takes 66.4 percent of his shots without taking a dribble is perfect. Bullock took 44.7 percent of his shots wide open (closest defender 6+ feet away), and that was with Blake Griffin creating for him. Griffin is great, but swap him for LeBron James passing the ball and Bullock’s open numbers should increase.

While most of his looks come from catch-and-shoot situations, Bullock is much more than a simple spot-up shooter. He’s turned into a deadly shooter off of dribble handoffs and coming off screens. If the Lakers utilize this skill that Bullock has developed, this becomes a new wrinkle in an offense that needs a single spot-up shooter and someone who can get his shot off other than waiting for a kick-out.

His shooting ability (41.2 percent on 4.0 3-pointers per game since 2015) will open driving lanes for LeBron, Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram. It may not tilt the defense completely, but any slither of space to allow extra room for those three to navigate is a great deal of help.

Bullock’s defense isn’t lockdown, but he gives effort and has the size (6’7”) that allows him to defend multiple positions and switch along the perimeter. Energy, effort and focus are the most glaring issues with the Lakers defense, so maybe Bullock can inject some life into the defense if he’s flying on that end of the floor.

Off the court, this trade is a no-brainer as well. Bullock’s contract expires at the end of the season, meaning the Lakers have another player not on the books for an important offseason with the hopes of bringing in free agents. Getting a rotation player for Svi and a second round pick that helps the team right away while maintaining cap flexibility is a great move.

Who knows if the Los Angeles Lakers will pull off any more trades before the Feb. 7 deadline, but this one is perfect. Getting a player that fills a need for that small of a return will always be applauded, but the rest of the NBA and Lakers roster sits on edge to see if the massive trade is on the horizon.