Lakers GM thinks Luke Kennard may be missing a piece for a stretch run

Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations and general manager, had high praise for Luke Kennard, the NBA team’s newest addition.

“Obviously he’s the best shooter in the game right now,” Pelinka told a handful of reporters before Kennard made his Lakers debut in Saturday’s game against the Warriors. “If you can add the best shooter in the game to your group at the deadline, that’s a great opportunity. So we took it.”

No wonder the Lakers were eager to add Kennard.

Statistically, Pelinka is right. Kennard shot 49.7% from beyond the arc this season entering Saturday to lead the NBA.

And for a team that has struggled with shooting beyond the arc for most of the season, shooting 34.9% from beyond the arc (No. 21 in the league going into Saturday), Kennard will fill a need.

“We just felt the gravity and space that he could create for the group with LeBron (James), or with Luka (Doncic) or Austin (Reaves), just being a reliable guy that could create space, hit big shots in big games and really help us on a playoff run.

“We were really hopeful of seeing our big three on the court at the same time, in terms of Austin Reaves, Luka and LeBron, and we’ve only had so many iterations of that,” Pelinka said. “So we’ll be excited if we get that and see what that group could do, because we feel like there’s some power in those three players playing together. We felt like adding Luke when those three guys are on the court, that would actually be really helpful. Just to create some possibilities with different lineups, like an all-shooting lineup with Rui (Hachimura) and Luke, and maybe those three guys if you decide to go small in a playoff series.”

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By trading Gabe Vincent and their 2032 second-round pick for Kennard before Thursday’s trade deadline, the Lakers kept their “optional” option for the offseason.

The Lakers can trade three of their first-round draft picks (2026, 2031 and 2033).

They will also have five players who will become unrestricted free agents in the summer after their contracts expire (James, Hachimura, Kennard, Maxi Kleber and Jaxson Hayes).

The Lakers also have three players with player options for 2026-2027 (Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart), potentially creating significant cap flexibility for the franchise.

“It is clear to all teams in the competition that this two-apron system is harsh and strict,” Pelinka said. “We felt like creating optionality or having optionality now is really a positive thing for us this coming offseason. Because there are some teams that may have gotten too deep in the league. And I think players, that we see in the league, become available when teams get into that position. So whether it’s through free agency, whether it’s keeping our own players, or looking around the league for players that are really good and teams maybe trying to get rid of their salaries, we feel like there’s going to be so many different ways to do that.” complete our roster in the offseason.”

Pelinka said the team was “aggressive” before the trade deadline.

“And one form of being aggressive is saying no to moves that come your way that may not be the best for the short- and long-term future,” he said. “Because sometimes it’s hard to say no to signing a good player, which can be a quick fix in the short term but can have long-term consequences if it doesn’t fit into the overall vision you have for the team.

“We were very aggressive. We worked incredibly hard. We evaluated numerous things.”

Pelinka reiterated his belief in the current group’s ability to compete for an NBA title. The Lakers entered Saturday with a 31-19 record, despite Doncic, James and Reaves playing just 10 games together so far this season.

“We believe in the power of this group,” Pelinka said. “We want to see what this team can do with the rest of the season. I wouldn’t underestimate the power of what a group of brothers can do when they come together for a playoff run. We feel like we have a really good roster, and we want to get healthy and make a run, and that will also help us evaluate things at the end of the season. We haven’t made any premature decisions on that yet.”