The Los Angeles Lakers are no doubt hoping to make some changes this season to boost the team's competitiveness, and while this season has been very disappointing, lakers management doesn't seem to have given up on their dreams of competing for the NBA championship this season, and they shouldn't do that either. When Anthony Davis recovered from injury, even if Davis was experiencing the worst performance of his career since his rookie season before the injury, he was still able to improve the team's strength on both offensive and defensive ends, so the Lakers must do everything they can to continue to strengthen.
The Lakers are reportedly currently interested in a number of players, the biggest of which is undoubtedly Jeramie Grant, who reportedly offered offers including Talon Horton Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and the 2027 first-round pick, but was rejected by the Pistons.
So while Grant seems to be the Lakers' dream signing target, this suggests that he may be out of reach for the team at this stage, so the Lakers may turn to another target, and according to Bleacher Report reporter Greg Swartz, the Lakers' second ideal target should be Rocket guard Eric Gordon.
"Gordon is probably the best player this team can bring in, he's an elite-caliber pitcher who's shot 46.1 percent from three-point range this season and also has some tackling and organizational skills. However, the payroll of the two sides may become a problem, and the Lakers must send Horton Tucker, plus Kendrick Nunn or two base salary players to match the salary. ”
Swartz is right, it will require the Lakers to send Tucker, plus Nunn or two base salary players to match the salary, and the Rockets may also ask for draft picks, but the Lakers can't trade Gordon with a first-round draft pick (the Rockets know this), but they can easily ask for multiple second-round picks.
However, on this point, Xiaobian has a different view. While Gordon's more than 45 percent three-point shooting percentage this season looks appealing, his career three-point shooting performance has been inconsistent. His three-point shooting this season is the lowest since the 2014-15 season, and for the first time since that season, his three-point shooting rate has exceeded 39 percent, when in fact he has only 35.9 percent from three-point range in the past five seasons.
Even if Gordon's current three-point shot feels hot, this is not what the Los Angeles Lakers need urgently, the Lakers actually have a lot of pitchers, Malik Munch, Carmelo Anthony, Wayne Ellington and even Avery Bradley have good shooting ability, and this is not the Lakers' problem this season.
The Lakers' biggest problem this season is defense, even with thick eyebrows on the court, the Lakers' defense is not much better, after trading away Cardwell Pope, and then releasing Alex Caruso because of saving luxury taxes, the Lakers have lost their strong outside defense ability in the past two seasons. The Lakers have averaged fourth-to-last points per game this season, and with this defensive ability, if they weren't lucky enough, they would have fallen out of the top eight in the West.
The arrival of Gordon will only increase the Lakers' outside shooting ability, but the impact on the defensive end is very limited. Gordon has always been poor on the defensive end, as a diminutive two-legged guard, if he is on the floor with Russell Westbrook, Munch or any of the Lakers' defenders who can't defend, then the Lakers' outside defense is almost like paper paste, Bradley is one of the Lakers' best outside defenders at the moment, but he does not have an absolute advantage on the defensive end.
The above-mentioned trade victim, Horton Tucker, is the most defensive player in the Lakers' lineup, and replacing him with Gordon will only exacerbate existing defensive problems and make the team worse. Not only that, the Lakers will also use a 21-year-old player to trade a 33-year-old player, and this player is also one of the league's high-paid and low-energy representatives, such a deal plan does not know how to come up with. Hopefully, the Lakers will realize these problems, the Lakers made a fatal mistake in the first place, choosing Horton Tucker instead of Caruso, and now they want to replace Tucker with Gordon, which is a mistake after mistake.