Last night, the Los Angeles Lakers struck a deal with the Golden State Warriors that netted the team Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks for point guard Steve Blake. The Lakers became sellers at the trade deadline and were able to get younger in the process.
We break down the newest Lakers here:
Kent Bazemore, Guard
Bazemore is a 24-year-old shooting guard that is in his second year in the NBA. He went undrafted in the 2012 NBA Draft, but the Warriors signed him after a strong Summer League showing. Bazemore has good size for a shooting guard, standing at 6’5 and is very athletic. In 2011, he won the Lefty Driesell Award for the best defensive player in all of college basketball.
With the Warriors, Bazemore has been mostly a bench player and is averaging just 6.1 minutes per game this season. He is averaging 2.3 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Defense is more of his priority rather than scoring, as his highest average for points in college was 15.4 in his senior season. His best game this season came in December against the Orlando Magic when he had 12 points, three rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes. He is shooting 37% in limited time, but was a career 44.6% shooter in college.
With the Lakers, Bazemore will bring good size to the backcourt and give the Lakers a defensive-minded player that will embrace his minutes on the court. Expect him to bring a lot of energy and athleticism to the defensive end and could thrive on the move in head coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense.
MarShon Brooks, Guard
Brooks is another 6’5 shooting guard, but is more of a scorer than Bazemore. He is in his third year in the NBA after being drafted 25th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2011 NBA Draft. He was immediately traded to the New Jersey Nets and spent his first two seasons here. This summer, he was a part of the trade that sent Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets and Brooks was sent to the Celtics. He was traded to the Warriors last month and is now a Laker.
In his rookie season, Brooks averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game and finished 10th in the Rookie of the Year vote. He was also named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team that year; however, his numbers dropped significantly in his second season after his minutes dropped. This season, he is averaging just 5.1 minutes and 2.6 points per game. Brooks has not scored in double-digits this season, but that has been due to playing time. In his career, he is a 43.8% shooter from the field.
In Los Angeles, Brooks should find more playing time off the bench and could provide a scorer in the second unit. He will get a shot and will have to put points on the board in order to get more minutes. Brooks has not been given much of a chance this season and could be a pleasant surprise for the Lakers.
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