Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Christmas wishes from Santa Claus

2. A legit third scoring option

When you employ the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, chances are that you got most of your team’s scoring covered. Quite so, these superstars averaged 51.4 points per game last season, which was about 45 percent of the entire team’s scoring.

Despite having these types of performances in every outing, they also needed a few extra guys to chip in when the superstar duo needed a minute’s rest. The thing is, they didn’t have a specific go-to third option when things went south.

Rob Pelinka addressed this matter in the offseason and brought in charismatic scorers that can score on their own, but also create opportunities for others. Schroder and Harrell were the two best 6th men in the league last season, with the latter winning the award in a narrow victory.

Both of them were near-20 point per game scorers. To take things into perspective, last season’s third-leading scorer on the Lakers was Kyle Kuzma who averaged 12.8 points per game.

The chances of the Lakers having more than just LeBron and AD do the scoring this season are pretty high. Nobody knows as of yet, whether Schroder and Harrell will replicate their performances from last season, or settle in as role players like Kuzma.

Whether it will be Schroder, Harrell, Kuzma, or perhaps even a surprise emergence, the Lakers need someone to take over when their stars are matched up against some of the league’s best defenders. Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka certainly proved this point.