The Los Angeles Lakers have already landed their big fish in superstar big man Anthony Davis, but the Lakers are surely not going to stop there.
With cap room to make other moves, Los Angeles will unquestionably peruse the free agent market for another big name, and while guys like Jimmy Butler and Kemba Walker will surely come up in conversation, another outstanding option would be J.J. Redick.
Now, obviously, Redick does not carry the same weight as Butler or Walker. He is not an All-Star, nor is he an all-around player. He is strictly a shooter, but that is something the Lakers desperately need.
Los Angeles is not a good perimeter shooting team, and adding Davis does nothing to change that. As a matter of fact, the biggest weakness in Davis' game is his inability to space the floor.
Just imagine, then, how valuable Redick would be to that offense, and how much he would thrive alongside Davis and LeBron James.
James has won all three of his titles with great perimeter shooters. Shane Battier. Mike Miller. Ray Allen. Kevin Love. Channing Frye.
The list goes on and on.
Given the type of player James is, a slasher and creator who doesn't really have much of a consistent jump shot himself, he is at his best when he is drawing in the defense and kicking the ball out to three-point shooters.
He didn't have the luxury of doing that this past season, as the Lakers were almost completely bereft of outside shooting.
And even after completing one of the biggest blockbuster trades in NBA history to instantly vault themselves into contender status, they still are almost completely bereft of outside shooting.
As phenomenal as James and Davis are, Los Angeles will be kidding themselves if they don't think their lack of floor spacing will present a major problem heading into next season, and odds are that the Lakers are well aware of this.
That makes Redick the perfect pickup, as he could seamlessly slide in next to James and Davis.
That's the thing about having LeBron and AD. They are so good that you don't even really need a third star. You just need to put the right pieces around them, and they should succeed.
Of course, that won't stop the Lakers from pursuing the Walker's and Butler's of the world, but they would be wise to consider spending some money to shore up their main weaknesses rather than just trying to overload talent that might not fit.
Redick is coming off of a season in which he made 39.7 percent of his three-pointers and is a lifetime 41.3 percent long-distance shooter. Yes, he is a defensive liability, and yes, he can't do much else offensively other than shoot, but his mere presence would open up the floor for James and Davis, and he would provide the Lakers with a lethal late-game shooter much like Steve Kerr was in Chicago.
Los Angeles obviously has its foundation in place with James and Davis, but in order to properly build on that foundation, the Lakers need to identify where they need the most work, and if they're smart, they'll realize that Redick is a perfect piece to add.
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