The Los Angeles Lakers clinched the Western Conference's No. 3 seed with a 50-32 record in the 2024-25 regular season and are set to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Somehow, the Lakers' future Hall-of-Fame tandem of Luka Dončić and LeBron James have been able to lead the group to success despite a lack of frontcourt depth and sufficient perimeter shooting help.
To better prepare the team for a deep postseason run in the future, it's likely that Los Angeles' general manager Rob Pelinka could look to address both of these concerns in one fell swoop.
Interestingly enough, a suitable candidate that has garnered a reputation as a dependable rim-runner and knockdown long-range shot-maker might be available in the near future.
In the coming months, it's plausible to believe that Pelinka may pursue the Atlanta Hawks' Larry Nance Jr. in the offseason, as the versatile power forward is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
At 32 years old, the former No. 27 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft to the Lakers has been able to evolve as an offensive player to keep up with the modern NBA's spacing revolution.
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The 6-foot-8 forward contributed 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds for Atlanta in just 20 appearances this season before suffering a season-ending right medial femoral condyle fracture against the Orlando Magic on Feb. 10, but his incredible 44.7% shooting clip from distance in limited burn may have been enough to earn himself a nice contract offer this summer.
Nance Jr. arrived to the NBA as an incredibly athletic leaper that threw down plenty of posterizing dunks over the course of his 168-game tenure with the Lakers from 2015-2018, but his wonderful improvement as a deadly catch-and-shoot threat could give him the opportunity to change the complexion of the Lakers' offense if he were to return.
Both Dončić and James have required their teams to possess both athletic alley-oop threats and skilled distance shooters that are always ready to let a deep ball fly, but Nance Jr. could simultaneously fill both of those roles to a tee.
If acquired by Los Angeles, Nance Jr. could be a fun player for head coach JJ Redick to play around with in certain lineups alongside the franchise's incredible play-making duo.
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