The weapon of 3-point shooting is valuable, especially in today's NBA. It spaces the floor and puts more points on the board. Because of this, having multiple perimeter snipers is a must for every championship contender. The Los Angeles Lakers are no different.

During the recent years, we’ve seen the Purple and Gold try to add elite shooters to the team. However, a lot of Laker shooters somehow find themselves in a slump while putting on a Lakers jersey. For this piece, let’s take a look at five sharpshooters who lost their touch when playing for one of the most decorated franchises in the league.

Lakers plot twists: Wayne Ellington

Wayne Ellington emerged in the league as one of the best catch-and-shoot players from deep. Before joining the Lakers for the 2014-2015 season, he shot a deadly 42.4% from rainbow country for the Dallas Mavericks.

Ellington was part of one of the most catastrophic Laker seasons ever. In that year, the Lakers suffered multiple injuries to their top players in Kobe Bryant and Julius Randle. In fact, even Ellington himself was sidelined with a shoulder injury during the latter part of the regular season.

The Lakers finished with a lowly 21-61 win-loss card.

In that catastrophic season, Ellington shot 37.0% from deep. Although this was still a respectable percentage for an elite shooter, it was still a dip compared to his previous stint with the Mavericks.

But with Ellington recently announcing his return to the Lakers for a second rodeo, hopefully the elite shooter can atone for his unproductive first stint with the team. Ellington will have more support this time around with playmakers LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. Furthermore, he’ll also have Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard to gobble up offensive boards and to demand defensive attention in the paint.

Wesley Matthews

The 2020 season was a disappointing title defense for the Lakers. They finished with a 42-30 record and only made the playoffs by getting through the NBA Play-In Tournament. Outside of injuries to Anthony Davis and LeBron James, the team struggled mightily in perimeter shooting. Arguably the best 3-and-D player on the team, Wesley Matthews, couldn’t save them.

Matthews shot the three-ball at only 33.5% from deep last season. It was the lowest three-point shooting performance of his career ever since his stint with the New York Knicks during the 2018-2019 season. He also registered his lowest output in points in a regular season with only 4.8 per outing in 58 games. That was tough to stomach for the Lakers.

Furthermore, his postseason was even more atrocious. Matthews only shot 28.0% from beyond the arc in the first round series when the Lakers lost to the Suns. It was the lowest shooting performance in a playoff series throughout his career.

With the Lakers still having spots open on their roster, it still is possible for Matthews to return and to redeem himself in the upcoming season. He has expressed his desire to “run it back” with the team.

However, after a quiet free agency so far, Matthews’ Lakers return appears to still be in limbo.

Sviatoslav Mykhailuk

Svi Mykhailuk was part of the young Lakers team during their rebuilding period. In his brief stint with the Lake Show, Svi shot the ball at a measly 31.8% from deep. He also only averaged 3.3 points per game in limited minutes.

After 39 games, the Lakers immediately moved on by trading him to the Detroit Pistons midway through the season.

Since then, Svi has emerged to become a reliable knockdown shooter. Just a season after, the Ukrainian guard shot an improved 40.4% clip from downtown and put up 9.0 points per game as a backup guard for the Pistons, not the Lakers.

And just last season, Svi registered one of the best stints during his career. He averaged 10.3 points per game off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder, while knocking down 33.6% of his shots from rainbow country.

Although Svi was on the Lakers’ radar to fill up its remaining roster spots, unfortunately, a return will not be in the books for the upcoming season. Svi ended up signing with the Raptors on a two-year deal.

Nick Young

Nick Young was relatively productive during his first and final years as a Laker. However, the years in-between were underwhelming for “Swaggy P.” Young struggled in his second and third year stints with the Lakers.

Although he shot 36.9% from three-point land, he also shot an inefficient 36.6% overall from the field. In his third year, Young had his worst year with the Lakers. He averaged 7.3 points per game while only making 32.5% of his three's and shooting 33.9% from the field overall.

Young was obviously in a shooting slump during those years. Furthermore, it didn’t help his cause when fellow teammate D’Angelo Russell “snitched” on him. Despite being close friends before the leaked recording, their rift certainly affected the team chemistry. This ultimately threw a wrench in the Lakers’ rebuilding plans after Kobe Bryant’s retirement.

However after a stint with the Lakers, Young would go on to win his first NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors. In the championship season, he averaged 7.3 points per game. As a backup shooter for the hot-shooting Warriors, he made a respectable 37.7% of his three-pointers.

Danny Green

If there’s a shooter that manifested the Lakers’ shooting curse, it would be Danny Green.

The Lakers signed Green fresh after winning a historic championship with the Toronto Raptors. In his stay in Toronto, the 3-and-D standout made an efficient 45.5% of his threes.

However after joining the Lakers, those three-point shots decreased dramatically. Green only made 36.7% shots from deep. And in the Finals, where it mattered most, his shooting got even worse. Green only made 28.9% of his threes, including a botched potential game-winning three in Game 5.

Although the Lakers eventually sealed the the championship series in Game 6, Green took a lot of heat from NBA fans.

Furthermore, the team would also trade him away to the Thunder during the offseason to acquire Dennis Schröder in their title defense last season. Coincidentally, Green regained his shooting touch after he landed with the Philadelphia 76ers. His numbers last season saw him hit at a 40.5% clip from downtown.

Although Green became a free agent this off-season and drew interest from the Lakers, a reunion won’t happen. The three-time NBA champion recently chose to return to the Sixers on a two-year, $20 million deal.