Los Angeles Lakers boost shooting with Luke Kennard trade

The Los Angeles Lakers fulfilled their 3-point shooting requirement on Thursday, purchasing the services of guard Luke Kennard of the Atlanta Hawks.

Los Angeles, which has made 34.8 on 3-point attempts thisseason, traded guard Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick at some point in the future to Atlanta for the nine-year veteran.

Kennard, 29, has the best 3-point accuracy in the NBA with 74 out of 149 attempts (49.7) being made in bench 46 games.

He has his lifetime 44.2 percent long range record also. Kennard has been the only player (with a minimum average of three 3-point attempts per game) in the league to shoot at least 50% out of the field, 40% out of 3-point and 90% out of the free-throw line, with his .537/.497/.914 slash line.

It will be the fifth NBA season of Kennard (7.9 ppg), who was drafted at the 12th position by the Detroit Pistons during the 2017 NBA Draft.

Vincent, 29, became an undrafted free agent in Miami Heat and was a four-season player there, then he went on to sign with the Lakers prior to the 2023-24 season.

During the 29 (seven starts) games he played with the Lakers this season, he scored 4.8 points and 1.3 assists. Kennard and Vincent will become uninhibited free men at the end of the season.