Lakers upgraded rotation with trade for Luke Kennard, but was that enough?

LOS ANGELES – The Lakers had a few glaring needs entering Thursday’s NBA trade deadline: athleticism, perimeter defense, toughness and three-point shooting.

And by acquiring Luke Kennard from the Hawks in a trade that will send Gabe Vincent and their 2032 second-round pick to Atlanta, the Lakers have addressed at least one of those needs with an upgrade to the backend of their rotation as they attempt to reach the playoffs.

In Kennard, the Lakers have one of the best shooters in the league. He’s shooting a league-best 49.7% in 2025-2026.

And for a Lakers team that entered Thursday ranked 22nd in 3-point percentage (34.9%), the extra perimeter shooting and spacing around Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James will be welcome in Los Angeles.

But how exactly will the Lakers benefit from Kennard’s shooting? And will the trade bring the Lakers closer to championship contention?

A flamethrower

Kennard’s career-best three-point shooting is no fluke.

He shot 44.2% on 3s over his career, which is the second-highest mark in league history among qualified players.

His catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage of 51.2% is also the best mark in the league among the 309 players who have attempted at least 40 catch-and-shoot 3s this season. He ranked in the top five in 3-point catch-and-shoot percentage (minimum 70 attempts) in the three previous seasons (2022-2025), and also led the league in 2022-2023 with 52.6%.

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Kennard’s ability to stretch the floor and knock down open shots from beyond the arc for a Lakers team that ranked bottom 10 in “open” 3-point shooting, “wide-open” 3-point shooting, catch-and-shoot 3-point shooting, and was the second-worst 3-point shooting team in the league.

Kennard will serve as an offensive outlet on the perimeter, in a similar manner to what Rui Hachimura does for the Lakers. And as a versatile shooter who can pin down moves, coach JJ Redick can create plays for Kennard that he would sometimes run for Vincent, but that Kennard is better equipped to do.

Vincent had the best shooting season of his career before being traded, shooting 36.9% from beyond the arc, but Kennard is in a different stratosphere.

A step back defensively

While Kennard is an improvement over Vincent as a perimeter shooter, he is just as much (if not more) of a step back than Vincent as a perimeter defender.

Kennard has been a poor perimeter and rotational defender for several seasons, and it’s unlikely that will change on a Lakers team that has struggled in many areas as a team.

The Lakers already had the problem that their best offensive players or shooters weren’t good defenders, and their best defenders weren’t consistent offensive threats, especially from beyond the arc.

Adding Kennard only makes this problem worse.

Bigger picture

The Lakers were able to address one of their biggest needs without giving up any of their top rotation players or sacrificing any cap flexibility this offseason — one of their biggest priorities as of Thursday — making Kennard’s acquisition more than worth it.

Kennard has a one-year, $11 million contract that expires after this season.

But even if Kennard fills a need, he alone won’t be enough to move the Lakers closer to a contender.

But the Lakers may not be done changing their roster just yet.

They still have an open roster spot that they can use to sign a player from the buyout market, or sign one of their two-way players – Drew Timme, Nick Smith Jr. or Chris Manon – to be converted into a standard contract.

The Lakers don’t have the cross-party balance that the teams above them in the Western Conference standings have, like the Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Timberwolves or even the Rockets.

But they are better than before without having to give up their future plans, which is a victory in itself.