Frank Vogel explains why ‘elite shooter’ Ben McLemore will improve Lakers’ chances at defending title

The Los Angeles Lakers brought in sharpshooter Ben McLemore to help improve the team as it looks to make a run down the stretch of the 2020-21 regular season.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel explained why he believes that McLemore will improve the Lakers’ chances of repeating as NBA champions this season.

“He’s a guy that we had to know where he was at all times in that Houston series because he’s such an elite shooter,” Vogel said. “And like I said, we’re trying to win a championship up here and so as much firepower as we can get, as many weapons as we can get, we’re going to try to get.

“And Ben instantly elevates our ability to knock down 3s on the backside when double teams come and we can play the drive-and-kick game that the modern NBA is made on. So we’re thrilled about his addition and looking forward to getting him into some minutes and into our program.”

While McLemore is shooting just 33.1 percent from beyond the arc this season, he did shoot 40.0 percent and 41.5 percent from 3 the past two seasons.

The Lakers want to surround Anthony Davis and LeBron James with as many shooters as possible once the two stars are healthy, and McLemore will give Vogel another option to go to for the rest of this season.

The Lakers are currently 32-19 this season and hold the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.