 So with the Los Angeles Lakers unable to make any trades during this year's NBA trade deadline even after there was a lot of speculation that Karl Kuzma could be on the board and they were looking at players like Derrick Rose Marcus Morris, but either of those players ended up getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers Derrick Rose stayed with Detroit and Marcus Morris actually ended up with the Clippers So it's gonna be interesting to see if the Lakers continue with the roster They have or if they're gonna go and try and get somebody else the three players that were highlighted by the Los Angeles Lakers were Darren Collison, JR Smith and recently Deon Waders after he was traded by the Miami Heat and waged by the Memphis Grizzlies So with that said let's have a look at the Los Angeles Lakers and see if they should go after one of these players Or if they should just continue with the roster They have and go with this roster into the NBA playoffs where they're looking to win a championship If you enjoy these types of videos, please hit that like button to show your support for the next video It would be amazing if we could reach a thousand likes if you're new around here Hit that subscribe button for NBA content every single week and hit that notification button so you never miss an upload With that said, let's get on to the video before I get into Darren Colison, Deon Waders and JR Smith I do know that Darren Colison won't be coming back to the NBA this season But I do want to talk about Tyler Johnson because he recently just got waved by the Phoenix Suns and he's somebody that also Could be a contributor to the Los Angeles Lakers if they decide to pick him up The difference between JR Smith and Deon Waders and of course Tyler Johnson is that Tyler Johnson is reasonably young He's only 27 years old and he didn't have the best run in Phoenix. He barely played with them He only ended up playing 40 games for the organization and he didn't really play very well overall He wasn't able to shoot the way that he did in Miami. His 3-point percentage in Miami was around 37% When he went to Phoenix that dropped all the way down to 32% last season and only 28% this season So he wasn't able to find any rhythm in Phoenix But he actually has been a really good shooter in his time with the Miami Heat in his first year entering the Miami Heat He averaged 37% of 1.53 point attempts per game But then by the 2017-18 season he was taking 4.5 attempts and averaging 36 nearly 37% from 3 So he's a guy that could be a consistent shooter and like I mentioned before He's younger which means it's probably more durable for the Lakers And he can be a replacement if any one of their shooting guys get injured not to mention he's also multi-dimensional This is a shooter guard and a point guard and he plays decent defense. He doesn't play amazing defense But for a guy who's not necessarily gifted he does show heart and hustle and I watched him for a while in Miami And he's pretty athletic for a guy that you wouldn't expect to be so athletic a little bit like Alice Caruso With that being said I don't believe the Lakers should really go after Tyler Johnson The thing about Tyler Johnson is he hasn't really been in a position where he's needed to perform at a high level He hasn't really done anything in the playoffs He hasn't obviously gone to the finals and somebody like J.R. Smith in my opinion even though he is older He's been there. He's done that He knows what it takes to get to the playoffs and perform at the highest level and for me if we're going off That the Lakers don't need a guy that's young They need a guy that's gonna perform at a high level in the playoffs and hit open shots With that said let's get on to the other three guys Darren Collison who would have been interesting for the Lakers then J.R. Smith And then lastly Deion Waders Darren Collison was brought to the Los Angeles Lakers He was watching the team and then two days later He decided that he would not come out of retirement and he would not play in the NBA this season Both the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers were looking to get him But now he's not available. So the Lakers are looking elsewhere one player that has been named is J.R. Smith Obviously, we know the relationship between J.R. Smith and LeBron James. It's a big relationship J.R. Smith played in Cleveland for quite a while. He played for five years, which actually goes unnoticed He played from 2014 all the way up until 2019 Obviously all that time he didn't play with LeBron because obviously LeBron left the Cleveland Cavaliers But J.R. Smith and LeBron have had a relationship for a while And he obviously played a role for LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers and obviously helped them win an NBA championship Despite what people say about J.R. Smith and his obvious lapses at times J.R. Smith throughout his career has been a very good player He's a guy that you can rely on to hit the open shot and his three-point average throughout his entire career has been 37% For somebody who came into the league shooting 28% from 3 to go from that to 37% the next season and Continue that for the rest of his career That's something that I believe J.R. Smith should get more credit for because he came into the league as an average Shooter and transformed into one of the best shooters J.R. Smith could shoot the lights out at one point He was an 18 point per game player who shot 35% from 3 and 42% from the field He was a sixth man of the year and he's a guy that can be relied on but obviously can he be relied on this year at 34 Years of age he will be making his return to the NBA if the Los Angeles Lakers can sign him and yes We know about the relationship with LeBron James which obviously helps but can J.R. Smith actually make an impact for the Los Angeles Lakers Well number one if he can average around 37% from 3 which is what he's averaged throughout his entire career He can make a contribution in my opinion number one He knows what it takes to get to the playoffs and obviously win an NBA championship Number two he can be relied upon to hit the open shot number three if J.R. Smith gets hot He can win a game off his own hot hand and yes That's a big call and I'm not saying that you can rely on J.R. Smith to be the number one option on a team Nor am I saying you can rely on J.R. Smith to be a sixth man this season nor am I relying on J.R. Smith to be the tenth man on A roster but I think that J.R. Smith if he gets hot He's one of those players like Gerald Green where he cannot be stopped once he gets going and he hits three threes in a row It's game over. I think he would make a good contribution and there are a lot of science pointing to J.R. Smith going to the Lakers He's friends with LeBron. He knows what it takes to win an NBA championship The Lakers are one of the championship contending teams and he's the guy that can hit the open shot Create his own shot which the Lakers are seeking it kind of makes sense for a guy like J.R. Smith to be on this roster We've seen him take over games before and yes He will be 34 years old But the thing about shooters is that no matter what age you are being a shooter doesn't leave you and we've seen That with Ray Allen He hit a huge clutch shot with the Miami Heat and he basically saved the Miami Heat from losing a championship I'm not comparing that Ray Allen to this J.R. Smith But I'm just saying if you have a shooter on the floor like J.R. Smith with a wide open shot I believe that he'll be able to hit that shot more times than not and in a clutch playoff situation a guy that's been there before I think you can rely on that and of course the Los Angeles Lakers already have guys like Danny Green and Avery Bradley And they can be relied upon to hit the open shot But if you have a team like LeBron James at the one J.R. Smith at the two Danny Green Karl Kuzma and Anthony Davis that is a tough lineup to face off against and I just believe it opens the paint up More so than having a guy like Avery Bradley or Cadwell Pope both of those guys especially Cadwell Pope They basically do what J.R. Smith does But I believe if you can have J.R. Smith on a roster and he won't complain about minutes He'll just be there on the bench and if you need to play him he can play I just don't believe it hurts the Los Angeles Lakers at all And I believe he could be a good potential player for the Los Angeles Lakers As for Deion Waders, Deion Waders is interesting because he's never been as good of a shooter as J.R. Smith Deion Waders averages 34% from 3 throughout his entire career But he had one season with the Miami Heat where he averaged 39% from 3 of 4.73 point attempts per game He's a guy that's been really inconsistent and obviously he's had lapses with the Miami Heat and of course the Cleveland Cavaliers when he was there He couldn't really find his mojo even though he was a top five pick in the NBA draft of 2012 He's never found his rhythm in the NBA and he hasn't turned out to be what the Cleveland Cavaliers expected He had a little stint in Oklahoma and then he was traded to the Miami Heat But overall he has mental lapses a little bit like J.R. Smith But probably worse and that's what really killed his game. The thing about Deion Waders is just like J.R. Smith He can be a walking bucket. He's a guy that is a good scorer and he can create his own shot He has the confidence that is almost a little bit too confident for a player Who isn't as good as he was meant to be. The thing about Deion Waders is that he can shoot the ball at a decent percentage I just think he probably hurts the Lakers more than he really gains And I just believe it's a better option to go after J.R. Smith in my opinion But it is clear that the Lakers need scoring off the bench And they also need to get the ball out of Rajan Rondo's hands to somebody who can create their own shot And whether that can be Deion Waders or J.R. Smith, that's the question I would personally go after J.R. Smith because I've seen him in the playoffs and I've seen him actually play really well And yes, I've seen Deion Waders play for the Miami Heat as most of you know I am a Miami Heat fan and I've seen Deion Waders two seasons ago play extremely well for the Miami Heat And he was one of the top scoring options on the Miami Heat But that was when we didn't have many scoring options and we weren't looking like a playoff team And for a team that is a playoff team like the Los Angeles Lakers To have a guy like Deion Waders who may take some shots away from other players that he really doesn't need to I just wouldn't go after Deion Waders at this point in time But it'll be interesting to see what the Los Angeles Lakers do And if they will go with J.R. Smith or Deion Waders or neither of them and maybe somebody else With that said, let me know what you believe down below in the comment section Who should the Los Angeles Lakers go with do you think they should go after Deion or J.R. Smith? Or do you think that they should go after somebody else? Somebody maybe like Tyler Johnson who just got waved by the Phoenix Suns All in all the player that accepts their role on this Los Angeles Lakers team In my opinion will be the player that gets signed here and most likely I believe it will be J.R. Smith Just based on his age and his relationship with LeBron James With that said, if you enjoyed the video, please be sure to leave a like to show your support Subscribe if you're new for NBA content every single week And hit that notification button so you never miss an upload It's been Deion Waders Smith, I'm out, peace