Kennard is one of the best shooters in NBA with a career 44.2% 3-point percentage. This season, he leads the league in 3-point percentage at 49.7% and has 14 games with at least three made 3-pointers. In 46 games with the Hawks, Kennard is averaging 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting a career-high 53.8% from the field and 91.4% from the free-throw line.

Kennard gives the Lakers the deadeye shooter this team has been lacking. The Lakers rank 22nd in the NBA in 3-point percentage and 23rd in 3-pointers made per game. Additionally, his presence on the court should help open up the floor for the Lakers’ trio of creators in Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James.

The consistency of Kennard has been outstanding throughout his career. In nine NBA seasons, he has never shot below 39.4% from deep and has knocked down at least 43% in each of the last six seasons.

The Lakers signed Vincent in the summer of 2023, but injuries marred his time with the franchise. He was limited to just 11 games in his first year with the team and has missed 20 games this season due to multiple different injuries.

When healthy, Vincent provided the Lakers with a solid, reliable point guard option who could defend well and provide some shooting and playmaking on offense. But the team feels it can benefit from one of the truly elite shooters this league has ever seen, a type of player that has typically thrived next to LeBron throughout his career, and there is no doubt that Kennard will see plenty of open looks playing next to the Lakers’ stars.

The Lakers will be the fifth stop of Kennard’s career as he previously spent time with the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies before signing with the Hawks this past offseason.

Kennard also spent two seasons at Duke University, the alma mater of head coach JJ Redick, and in his final season with the Blue Devils was a second team All-American.

Lakers could become ‘viable threat’ for Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer

While it has been a relatively quiet deadline for the Lakers, the team could be looking to make a major splash in the offseason. With Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo expected to stay put at the deadline, the Lakers are a team that could be a ‘viable threat’ to land him in the summer.

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The reason for that is because they have some clear roster deficiencies. While the Lakers boast a roster with three stars in Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves, they have lacked two-way role players to support them.

Going back to the offseason, the Lakers made some quality moves to bring in Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia, all of which have made significant contributions this season.

If L.A. wants to be in the championship mix though then the roster needs some 3-and-D players on the wings and a rim-protecting center. Rob Pelinka has until the NBA trade deadline on Feb 5. to address all those needs, and it appears he has made his first move.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers are trading Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Luke Kennard:

The Los Angeles Lakers are trading Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Luke Kennard, sources tell ESPN.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2026

Lakers find a sharpshooter on the wings for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James while the Hawks land a veteran guard, create a $11 million trade exception and pick up an asset. https://t.co/GIY8HNo0Zp

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2026

This marks the end of Vincent’s tenure with the Lakers after a disappointing two-and-a-half seasons. Even though he is an expiring contract, they needed to attach their lone tradable second-round pick to unload him for Kennard, who is on an $11 million expiring deal. Vincent is making $11.5 million this season, so L.A. will save a little bit of money, which is important given how close they are to their first apron hard cap. That should give them a little flexibility to add a 15th player to their roster after the deadline if no other moves are made.

Kennard will certainly bring some outside shooting to the Lakers though as the 29-year-old has been one of the best in the league over the last handful of years.

In 46 games for the Hawks this season, Kennard is averaging 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 53.8% from the field and a league-leading 49.7% from 3-point range on 3.2 attempts per game. In his career, the Duke alum has shot 44.2% from deep.

While Kennard won’t provide much defensively for L.A., that is the type of outside shooting they have been looking for to add to their core of Doncic, James and Reaves.

Meanwhile, Vincent’s Lakers tenure comes to an end after playing in 112 games across three seasons, averaging 5.6 points on 38.1% shooting.

Rob Pelinka encouraged by Lakers’ depth

Even though moves were clearly needed, Rob Pelinka recently spoke about how encouraged he has been with the Lakers’ depth this season as they have managed to stay afloat despite numerous players missing time due to injury.

“We talked a lot about how we wanted to get younger with the roster and then more depth to your point, that was something we really focused on in July. If you look around the league at the successful teams, they’re young. Everyone’s playing fast, everyone’s playing physical. When we went out and added Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia and brought in Marcus Smart we really felt like that would fill out our depth and to see that happening in real time, proof of concept has been encouraging.”

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The Lakers lost their third straight game to the Kings, making the contest against the Hawks a near must-win. It sounds dramatic, but Los Angeles desperately needed some positive momentum after starting the 2026 calendar year off strong.

The Hawks recently shook up their roster by trading away superstar guard Trae Young in exchange for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert, a move that gave them more financial flexibility moving forward but arguably made them worse in the interim. The Lakers took advantage by getting into an offensive rhythm from the jump, particularly from outside as they finally saw their 3-point looks go down.

Los Angeles looked like they were going to cruise to an easy victory when they went up by as many as 32 points, but Atlanta stormed back to make it manageable in the fourth quarter. Fortunately, the Lakers were able to respond with another quick offensive spurt to quell the Hawks’ run. Los Angeles eventually won 141-116, snapping their three-game skid.

LeBron James has looked more and more like himself and against the Hawks, he had a vintage performance that made it seem like he could play forever. Atlanta’s porous defense had no answer for James who had an extra pep in his step despite playing in his first back-to-back of the 2025-26 season.

James ran out in transition or blew past defenders to get to the rim, often times finishing unscathed. He also had his jumper going, knocking down clutch shots to make sure the Hawks didn’t encroach on their lead too much.

LeBron had his best game of the season to date, recording a near triple-double of 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to go along with one steal and one block in 33 minutes.

Deandre Ayton had been scuffling recently before getting back on track against an undersized Hawks team. Ayton was a machine on the glass, grabbing rebounds at a high rate and finishing his looks on the offensive end.

Ayton bounced back with an impressive double-double of 17 points and 18 rebounds.

Luka Doncic was the catalyst for the Lakers’ first-half lead, burying deep 3-point attempts to demoralize Atlanta’s defense. Doncic finished with 27 points, 12 assists and five rebounds.

What’s next for the Lakers

The Lakers will host the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday before going back on the road to play the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.

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Lakers stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James were originally listed as questionable but were both able to suit up, marking the first time the latter has played in both legs of a back-to-back this season. With their stars in the lineup, the Lakers got back on track by beating the Hawks, 141-116, to end their losing streak.

James found Deandre Ayton to kick off the scoring and then had a driving layup of his own. Nickeil Alexander-Walker also got going early with pair of triples, including one that was a four-point play.

With the game close early, Rui Hachimura checked in after missing the last seven games with a calf strain and made a reverse layup and midrange jumper. Doncic and Gabe Vincent then got going from deep, starting a 13-0 run as the Lakers closed the first quarter strong to take a 37-30 lead. James had four straight assists and then a layup during that stretch.

LeBron began the second quarter with a pair of turnovers, however, leading to a 7-1 Hawks run. Marcus Smart took matters into his own hands from there though, driving on three straight transition opportunities for six straight points.

Doncic returned and got fouled on a triple and then hit two more from deep. After a Hawks timeout, Doncic kept pouring it on with yet another triple and all of a sudden, the Lakers were up 63-44.

One day after an abysmal 3-point shooting night, the Lakers couldn’t miss in the second quarter. Everyone was getting involved and they took an 81-60 lead into the halftime locker room.

The Lakers didn’t let up to begin the third quarter, quickly growing their lead to 30 after five straight points by James.

From there though, Doncic had some silly turnovers and a technical foul and the Hawks began chipping away. McCollum and Alexander-Walker stayed hot while all of sudden the Lakers had cooled off, taking a 102-86 lead into the fourth quarter.

It was more of the same to begin the fourth as the Lakers weren’t getting any stops. With their lead down to 11, James and Smart both hit big triples to halt the Atlanta run. Doncic then completely a three-point play to put the Lakers back up 20, allowing them to cruise to the victory.

What’s next for the Lakers…

The Lakers will get a much-needed day off on Wednesday before hosting the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

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Doncic and James both being able to play is a bit of a surprise as the former spoke after the Lakers’ game in Sacramento against the Kings on Monday night about having to get treatment on it during the contest. With this being the second night of a back-to-back, it would have made sense for the Lakers to sit him down as opposed to risking further damage.

Likewise, James has not played in both nights of any back-to-back so far this season as the staff looks to manage him throughout the season. Even LeBron himself has said that he is TBD on all back-to-backs going forward this year in his 23rd NBA season.

After warming up pregame though, both players were upgraded to available, which is a huge boost for a Lakers team that has lost three straight and badly needs a win.

With Austin Reaves (left calf strain) still being out, Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent are sure to see plenty of action, as could two-way guard Nick Smith Jr. who has been part of the rotation for a couple weeks now.

Dalton Knecht could get a great opportunity for big minutes as well as he is one of the team’s best offensive options and they have really struggled to score the ball. Rui Hachimura, who suited up Monday but didn’t take the floor, will return from his calf injury but on a minutes restriction of around 18 minutes.

JJ Redick says Lakers’ poor 3-point shooting has become a theme

Amid their recent struggles, the Lakers will need to generate offense from somewhere and hopefully they can find their 3-point stroke against the Hawks as head coach JJ Redick noted that their poor shooting from deep has become a theme this season.

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