Lakers Land Luke Kennard, Betting on Elite Shooting to Boost Offense
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The Los Angeles Lakers addressed their outside shooting at the trade deadline by sending guard Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for veteran wing Luke Kennard.
“When you get to add the best shooter in the game to your group at the deadline, it’s a great opportunity, so we seized it,” president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka told reporters, according to ESPN.
Pelinka rejected the notion that the front office was inactive, explaining that the Lakers examined “numerous” possibilities before finalizing the Kennard deal. “We were very aggressive. We worked incredibly hard. We evaluated numerous things. We got close on some things, but we feel good about the move we made,” he said, per the Southern California News Group.
Head coach JJ Redick plans to give Kennard the green light immediately. “I know that’s what they want me to do,” Kennard said, via The Athletic. “I will shoot it. I will be aggressive.”
The 27-year-old backed up that pledge in his Lakers debut, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting over 26 minutes.
Los Angeles made no other roster changes before the deadline, opting instead to add a specialized shooter they believe can stretch defenses for the stretch run.
Source: Hoops Wire
