Why not Jae Crowder as a Los Angeles Lakers deadline target?

Jae Crowder isn’t the Memphis Grizzlies forward they want, but he could be what the Los Angeles Lakers need to fill one of their few remaining holes.

In a season ripe with championship expectations, the Los Angeles Lakers have managed to look better than advertised all year long.

Their 36-9 record is best in the West with ratings that are in the top five on both sides of the ball. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will share the court as starters in the upcoming All-Star Game and the cast of questionable role players has answered the bell so far.

Despite their grouping among the few teams with a realistic shot at the title, this L.A. team is still noticeably flawed in ways that could keep the championship out of reach.

One look at the Lakers’ depth chart shows the absence of legitimate wing depth behind LeBron James. They’ve been getting by with a committee of Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at the 3 spot at times, both of whom bring a reputable defensive acumen and legitimate 3-point shooting.

Neither, however, provides the strength necessary to make up for frames that don’t reach above 6’6”. Kyle Kuzma is better suited down a position with defense that comes and goes. At 34 years old, Jared Dudley isn’t built to handle a role that affords consistent playing time.

A postseason matchup with the LA Clippers seems inevitable, but the Lakers have had little to no answers for the wing duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George en route to an 0-2 record.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

Thinking down the line toward possibly June, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks have already given the Lakers issues.

L.A. is in desperate need of a wing with legitimate size; the type who, if not shut down the stars who will stand in their way of a title, can at least make them work for every bucket.

It’s why they’ve been linked to Andre Iguodala all season long, a sizeable wing who brings championship savvy and a resume of irritating the elites of the league.

But if the Memphis Grizzlies‘ asking price seems too high for the former Finals MVP, the Lakers don’t need to look very far to find an alternative to a player in high demand across the league.

Jae Crowder isn’t the player he once was as a valued 3-and-D member of the Boston Celtics. His 3-point shot has cratered to the second-worst mark of his career — 29.5 percent — while his individual defensive rating is the worst it’s ever been.

Who he still is, however, is a burly 235-pounder who can rotate between both forward spots with a passionate desire to make the lives of his opponents uncomfortable. The seventh-year veteran has made his career by taking on the most difficult of defensive challenges on a nightly basis.

There’s a reason he was the one tasked with slowing down even the likes of LeBron during his battles with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a member of the Celtics. You feel his physicality over the course of a seven-game series.

For a player who once shot 39.8 percent from beyond the arc, the absence of 3-point efficiency since then has been a bit alarming. Crowder is shooting just 28.1 percent on catch-and-shoot looks from downtown this season, a staple of any complementary piece alongside James.

Across 53 games with James in Cleveland back in 2017-18, that number was at a much more respectable 35.0 percent on 3.1 attempts per game.

Not even that would be an ideal mark today, but the Lakers currently rank fifth in the catch-and-shoot department from downtown this season at 38.5 percent, likely on account of the attention LeBron and AD command.

Who’s to say Crowder couldn’t benefit in the same way Green and KCP have with some of the best looks he’s ever gotten?

The trick for L.A. is to get him out of Memphis, where he’s started 41 games for a Grizzlies team amid an unexpectedly competitive season that has in the eighth spot by a half-game.

Crowder is in the final year of a deal paying him only $7.8 million, which makes a deal far more easier for the Lakers to pull off.

DeMarcus Cousins‘ contract is collecting dust at $3.5 million for this season only. Would the front office be willing to part with Kyle Kuzma for a player whose style L.A. has essentially tried to get the 24-year-old to adopt?

In their two battles so far this season, Kawhi has averaged 32.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 3-pointers per game against the Lakers while shooting 55.3 percent from the field. PG struggled on Christmas Day but should not be taken lightly as a player nearly equally capable of going off.

LeBron can only defend one at a time and at his age and attrition, even that can only last for so long over the course of a 48-minute game. Ideally, he’s floating on defense to conserve energy for the offensive end.

Crowder isn’t the Grizzly L.A. wants, but if the matchups against the Clippers were any indication, reinforcements are needed and there’s no guarantee it’ll come in the form of Iguodala.