Of the new players on the Los Angeles Lakers' roster, guard Jaden Hardy is virtually an afterthought. He was acquired last month, along with two second-round draft picks, from the Washington Wizards for center Deandre Ayton, who had become expendable after Los Angeles landed Walker Kessler. Right now, the general expectation is that Hardy will get little, if any, playing time. But amidst all this talk about Klay Thompson possibly coming to the Lakers, what if Hardy could play the same type of role, even if he isn't as good a player as the latter-day Thompson? That is the argument that Maxwell Odgen of Lake Show Life made in a recent article. He feels that Hardy could fill the role Luke Kennard played for L.A. last season.
"Unfortunately, Hardy is a realistic candidate to find himself at the mercy of Los Angeles' need to trim its roster to 15 players as a fringe rotation piece with an unclear role," Ogden wrote. "If the Lakers spare Hardy from being cut, however, then they could finally fill the void that Luke Kennard wasn't able to as a volume shooter from beyond the arc. "... Thankfully, Hardy is a fearless and efficient three-point shooter who can check the boxes that Kennard hasn't necessarily proven ideal for. "... For a team that's built a heliocentric offense around downhill playmakers Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there's an unreasonable lack of volume from the three-point shooters who should be feasting off of the manner in which the stars collapse opposing defenses. "... Though Hardy has his question marks on the defensive end of the floor, his shooting is a constant. He's not only capable of knocking down shots with borderline elite efficiency, but is willing to shoot with the type of volume that Los Angeles' previous players simply haven't displayed."
Hardy, 24, has a career average of 8.4 points in 14.9 minutes a game while shooting 38.6% from 3-point range. He's a very high-volume 3-point shooter (he has a lifetime average of 8.6 3-point attempts per 36 minutes), and while the rest of his game is lacking, he clearly excels in that one department. Kennard gave the Lakers nine points in 23 minutes a game after they got him in a midseason trade with the Atlanta Hawks. Yes, he's a better 3-point shooter than Hardy, and he owns the second-highest career 3-point accuracy in NBA history, but Hardy could at least somewhat replace him in satisfactory fashion. Hardy could especially come in handy if potential-laden rookie guard Cameron Carr either isn't ready to play or is trending toward becoming a disappointment. He also spent a couple of seasons playing alongside Luka Doncic on the Dallas Mavericks, which won't exactly hurt when it comes to building chemistry. For the first time in years, Los Angeles has a decently deep bench, and it could result in the team having a somewhat higher floor than it had last season, even if it won't be a better team overall. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Could Jaden Hardy find a role with the Lakers?