Lakers' Biggest Needs at 2023 NBA Trade Deadline
The Los Angeles Lakers are fast approaching the proverbial fork in the road that every NBA team encounters this time of year.
With the trade deadline less than a month away, the Lakers must decide soon whether they're buying this swap season and, if so, how big will they go.
They, of course, have two future first-round picks at their disposal (2027 and 2029), which could perhaps anchor a blockbuster deal—or something close to it, at least. Since those picks won't convey until long after LeBron James has left town, though, L.A. needs to handle them carefully and only put them on the table for what it believes is a difference-making deal.
That part of the trade discussion is hard. What's easy, though, is identifying the biggest needs of this roster.
Shooting
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The Lakers likely knew they'd have some level of shooting shortage this season. After all, this roster isn't, as James told reporters on opening night, "constructed of great shooting."
Even still, though, you have to assume L.A. didn't see things going this poorly.
The Lakers have three players averaging four-plus three-point attempts per game. Two of them are connecting on fewer than 30 percent of their long-range looks: James (29.5 percent, the worst splash rate since his rookie year) and Russell Westbrook (28.5, which isn't far off from his career connection rate of 30.4).
L.A. could really use a high-volume gunner to give this attack more breathing room and widen the driving lanes for James and Westbrook to exploit. That's why Indiana's Buddy Hield has long loomed as such an obvious target.
Frontcourt Depth
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The Lakers have reached the exact midway point of the 2022-23 season with 41 games down and 41 still to go. They've also played 10-plus games without at least one of James and Anthony Davis.
Granted, any team losing a player of this caliber will certainly feel the impact of that absence. Still, it's fair to wonder why the Lakers didn't better prepare this roster to cover up those voids.
James celebrated his 38th birthday last month. He might seem like a basketball cyborg at times, but he's still fighting the same aging curve as everyone else. As for Davis...well, he's Anthony Davis. He last cleared the 70-game mark in 2017-18 and hasn't made 50-plus appearances since 2019-20.
Credit Thomas Bryant for elevating his play in Davis' absence, but the Lakers could still stand to add more size and length up front. The forward group could also use a reinforcement or two.
Defensive Upgrades
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The 2019-20 Lakers found their championship blueprint.
It was built around the collective basketball brilliance of James and Davis, plus good-enough shooting and elite defense.
It boggles the mind, then, to see this club fall so short in those latter areas. Defense, in particular, has been a drag, since a roster led by James and Davis is unlikely to ever rank among the best net-shredding, sharpshooting teams in basketball.
