The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t yet a championship team, at least not according to LeBron James‘ good friend and agent Rich Paul, who said as much on the first-ever “Game Over” podcast that he co-hosts with former ESPN analyst Max Kellerman.
Paul’s assessment on Tuesday, Dec. 9, naturally begs the question of what the Lakers must do to become a true title contender in a brutal Western Conference that features the seemingly all but invincible Oklahoma City Thunder and deep, well-built challengers in the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.
The answer is probably shooting and versatile defense in wing players who can prop up star creators/scorers in James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Sam Amick of The Athletic noted that the Lakers are seeking that exact type of player via the trade market ahead of the early February deadline, and named two such wings who fit the bill.
“I talked to somebody yesterday who said the Lakers are looking for a 3-and-D-type guy,” Amick said on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” program. “Could it be Keon [Ellis], Herb Jones, or somebody like that?”
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Jones, currently with the New Orleans Pelicans, has been connected to the Lakers recently by ClutchPoints. Jones is 27 years old and on a favorable contract that extends through 2029-30. He can guard multiple positions and shoots 36.4 percent from the 3-point line on approximately three attempts per game
Jones made first-team All-Defense two seasons ago and ended that campaign fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of all but 20 games last season.
Ellis, 25, is a member of the Sacramento Kings and less involved than Jones on essentially an equally bad team, though the Kings’ handling of Ellis and his playing time has long baffled the likes of NBA analysts such as Zach Lowe of The Ringer. Ellis is on the final year of his deal and will hit free agency next summer if he doesn’t ink a new contract before then.
He shoots the 3-pointer at 42 percent on 3.3 attempts per game. Ellis is shorter at 6-foot-4 than Jones (6-foot-7), but has a wingspan of 6-foot-9, which helps him immensely as a perimeter defender.
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