According to the latest rumors, Los Angeles Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak is looking to sign a shooting guard to counter that issue. Despite Dwight Howard’s status still being up in the air, Kupchak can’t hesitate to pull the trigger on a second-unit upgrade.
Even if the Los Angeles Lakers don’t trade for Howard, they’d still boast a Dream Team-like starting five. Their bench, though, is another story. Lakers reserves averaged a pitiful 20.5 points per game in 2012, the worst total in the NBA (via hoopsstats.com).
Perhaps the most significant drop-off came at the 2-guard spot. When the Black Mamba went to the bench last season, it got ugly.
While the Lakers outscored opponents by 135 points with Kobe on the floor, despite still having All-Star-caliber talents like Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, L.A. was outscored by 41 without him (via 82games.com).
Now, that’s where Jodie Meeks comes in.
Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld reported the Lakers’ link to Meeks. He tweeted:
The Los Angeles Lakers continue to express interest in Jodie Meeks, according to source. No deal is imminent, but the two sides are talking.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 27, 2012 Meeks is a significant upgrade to Andrew Goudelock and Devin Ebanks, offensively.
Goudelock is as one-dimensional as they come, as a whopping 97 percent of his shot attempts were jump shots last year. Ebanks is just plain useless at the offensive end. At the 2, he finished 2012 with a player efficiency rating of 6.5 (the league average is 15.0).
While Meeks is primarily a jump-shooter and does it well (shooting 37.1 percent from downtown for his career), he’s also a capable finisher at the rim and shot 62 percent on inside shots last season compared to 20 percent by Goudelock.
But on top of Meeks...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
