Los Angeles Lakers: Will newcomers improve the team’s 3-point shooting?

The rest of the additions for the Los Angeles Lakers

The former Raptors big will provide a long-range punch from the center position that neither JaVale McGee nor Dwight Howard could provide. The 35-year-old Gasol had one of the best 3-point shooting seasons of his career in 2019-20, hitting 38.6 percent from downtown.

A lot of his 3-point looks came off pick-and-pops when his defender left him open to corral Toronto’s ball-handlers. 142 of his 145 attempts were “catch-and-shoot,” while 131 of 145 were classified as “6+ feet -wide open” per NBA.com (designates distance of closest defender during the shot – other options are “0-2 feet – very tight,” “2-4 feet – tight,” and “4-6 feet – open“). Gasol made 52 of his 131 wide-open looks (39.7 percent).

47.8 percent of Gasol’s 3-point attempts were “wide open,” the 5th highest rate of 154 players that took at least 100 of these shots (Utah Jazz’s Royce O’Neale 1st at 58.9 percent). Matthews actually ranked just behind Gasol with the 7th-highest frequency at 45.7 percent (made 39.8 percent of his “wide open” threes).

The big man’s regular season shooting performance suggests he has plenty left in the tank as a shooter, but it’s worth noting Gasol shot an ugly 5/27 (18.5 percent) from downtown this past postseason. He shot well during Toronto’s 2018-19 championship run, however, hitting 34 of 89 from downtown (38.2), so this wasn’t reflective of a broader trend.

Conclusion

Will the Lakers be an improved 3-point shooting team in 2020-21? There’s plenty of reason to be optimistic. Returning players in LeBron James (34.8 percent), Anthony Davis (33.0), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (38.5), Kyle Kuzma (31.6) and Alex Caruso (33.3) are all capable of maintaining (if not improving upon) last season’s 3-point shooting. A full season of Markieff Morris (38.6) should help the cause, while Talen Horton-Tucker (30.8) is a bit more of a wildcard.

In terms of the newcomers and departures, Dennis Schroder projects as a clear upgrade over Rajon Rondo when it comes to 3-point shooting, and if last season’s performance wasn’t a fluke, he could help fill the voids left by Danny Green and Avery Bradley as well. Even if Schroder isn’t quite up to this task, Wesley Matthews should be able to be counted upon to pick up the slack. While Montrezl Harrell won’t help the team from distance, Marc Gasol will be a massive shooting upgrade over JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard.

Overall, the Lakers shot 34.9 percent from downtown last season, and it should be considered a disappointment if the team can’t at least eclipse 35.0 percent in 2020-21. The combination of returning shooting and new long-range threats should not only make the team better from downtown, but make it a more formidable team on the whole.

(Credit to NBA.com for statistics and ESPN and House of Highlights for GIFS)