There's no debating what the Los Angeles Lakers' roster needs most.
Building any team around LeBron James that lacks a semblance of competent perimeter shooting would always be a recipe for disaster, but especially with Russell Westbrook also in the fold. Anthony Davis' ongoing struggles with his jumper only compound the biggest problem during Los Angeles' wholly dispiriting 0-5 start.
First-year Lakers coach Darvin Ham, though, clearly believes it's not just a palpable lack of a lack of shooting that's dragging down his team's offense. Los Angeles, in his view, could use pretty much anyone to fill its void of a consistent third scorer—even local beat reporters.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham is in search of any scorer behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
In fact, Ham will even work out local beat writer @DanWoikeSports if he can score 🤣 pic.twitter.com/nm0VzsxuWL
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) October 29, 2022
Ham's comments came following the Lakers' 111-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Without Davis due to low back soreness that threatens to dog the oft-injured big man throughout 2022-23, James led Los Angeles with 28 points, going a substandard 10-of-24 from the field. Russell Westbrook played better in his first game coming off the bench, but still needed 17 shots to score 18 points. Troy Brown Jr. and Austin Reaves were the only other Lakers in double-figures.
Lonnie Walker, meanwhile, struggled against the Timberwolves after combining for 56 points over Los Angeles' prior three outings. He scored six points on 3-of-10 shooting, clanking all four of his tries from deep.
Far more pressing concerns for the Lakers than Walker's inconsistency as a de facto third option are their historic early-season shooting labors and the re-aggravation of Davis' back injury.
Even if Walker re-asserts himself as a dynamic scorer or Westbrook's move to the bench turns him back into a nightly impact player, both long-shots, this team isn't going anywhere as long as it continues shooting an historically awful 23.7% from three-point range or Davis is at anything less than full health. It's not like the 2020 title team ever developed a reliable third scorer behind James and Davis anyway.
Of course, any additional offensive punch Ham can count on game-to-game would make a difference for the Lakers. Their 96.2 offensive rating ranks dead last in the league entering Saturday's action, a whopping six points worse than 29th-place.
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