He averaged 7.2 points per game in his career! As a former player of the Grizzlies and Kings, what can he bring to the Lakers?

102:122, the Lakers lost to the Hawks in an upset. It is worth mentioning that Trae Young did not play in this game - so far in the 25-26 season, the Hawks have a net win of 5.0 points per 100 possessions when Young is on the court, and a net loss of 5.8 points when he is not on the court. To put it bluntly, the Lakers lost to the second-team Hawks.

Talking about the game, Laravia continued to start the game just like before against the Trail Blazers and Spurs - making 4 of 7 shots and scoring 13 points, the third-highest score for the Lakers except Doncic and Knecter.

In fact, so far this new season, Laravia ranks fifth on the Lakers in averaging 12.1 points per game and fifth in the team in true shooting percentage of 64.1%.

Explanation point one: NBA career. When he participated in the 2022 draft, he was selected by the Grizzlies with the 19th overall pick in the first round. Averaged 7.1 points in 117 games with the Grizzlies. He was traded to the Kings in the middle of the 24-25 season and averaged 6.1 points in 19 games on behalf of the team. This summer, Laravia joined the Lakers for 2 years and $12 million.

One more thing, Laravia has averaged 7.2 points per game in 145 games so far in his NBA career.

Explanation point two: location. Of the 2,845 minutes played so far in his NBA career, he has played 39% at the third position and 51% at the fourth position. Obviously, he is a swingman like Anunoby, Bridges, McDaniels and others.

Explanation point three: characteristics. On the offensive end, Laravia has taken a total of 809 shots so far in his career, 401 of which came from beyond the three-point line, with a shooting rate of 37.4%. On the defensive end, he defended the fourth position in 56.9% of defensive rounds, with a career defensive real plus-minus of 0.3.

In terms of defensive real plus-minus alone, McDaniels, who was selected as the second defense of the year in the 23-24 season, has a career value of 0.5. Of course, we can't say that Laravia's defense reaches the defensive level. After all, the defenders the former faces are opponents' arrow figures like Durant and Tatum, but at least it shows that Laravia's defense is not the opponent's "cash machine."

From a characteristic perspective, Laravia is more like a replica of Hilde. I mean, the offensive end is mainly three-pointers, but there is a gap in production, but the defense is better than the Warriors shooter.

Speaking of this, as a king and a former Grizzlies player, what can Laravia bring to the Lakers?

I think there are three points:

First, the executor of the main finishing tactics. So far in the new season, when Knecht's three-point rate is only 21.4%, it can be said that Laravia is the most stable three-pointer among the Lakers' role players.

1. The three-point rate against the Hawks was 50%;

2. The three-point rate against the Heat was 66.7%;

3. The three-point rate against the Timberwolves was 75%.

In fact, the excellent three-point ability is also the main reason why Redick is willing to put Laravia in the starting lineup. One more thing, so far in the new season, the Lakers have taken 39.4% of their three-point shots. In other words, Laravia is an effective executor of the Lakers' main finishing tactics.

Second, Caruso on the defensive end. If we talk about defense alone, Laravia is definitely not as good as Vanderbilt and Smart, but the problem is that the latter two are unstable on offense and even have "offensive black holes." On the other hand, Laravia has projections or opponents dare not let go.

Ever since, Redick was more willing to use Laravia instead of Vanderbilt or Smart in the decisive moments against the Spurs and Kings. To put it bluntly, the former looks like the new Lakers Caruso - he can produce stable output on both offense and defense, or he has clear "3D" characteristics.

Finally, considering that Laravia's average salary is only 6 million, it can be said that the price-performance ratio is very high. To a large extent, as long as he maintains his current level, he will be the only "3D" player in the Lakers' lineup.