Jake LaRavia shot 35.3% from three over the first 39 games of last season and 27.9% over the last 43, and which version shows up this season affects how much room Luka Doncic has to work in. The preseason says the shot is back, but 11 attempts prove little. I would rather watch how often he lets it go.
My take: LaRavia is the Lakers’ most important low-profile shooter, because a 6-foot-7 forward whose defender has to stay home is what a Doncic lineup needs. If he is a 35% shooter who keeps firing, defenders have to stay with him. If he is a 28% shooter who passes up shots, they will ignore him.
What happened last season
Here is LaRavia’s 2025-26, split at the point where he cooled off, from the Basketball Reference game log:
| Stretch | Games | 3P made-attempted | 3P% | 3PA per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games 1-39 (through Jan. 15) | 39 | 49-of-139 | 35.3% | 3.6 |
| Games 40-82 | 43 | 29-of-104 | 27.9% | 2.4 |
| Full season | 82 | 78-of-243 | 32.1% | 3.0 |
He missed more, and he shot less. The second part gets overlooked. A shooter who is slumping and keeps firing is a problem for his own team. A shooter who stops firing is a problem for the spacing, because the defender guarding him no longer has to guard him.
The year before was better. In 2024-25 he made 42.3% of his threes on 2.2 attempts between Memphis and Sacramento (44.4% with the Grizzlies, 38.5% with the Kings), per Basketball Reference. The volume was small. Last season he took 3.6 a game over the first 39 games and hit 35.3%, then the shot went away.
The rest of his year was solid. He played all 82 games, averaging 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 25.1 minutes on 45.9% shooting from the field, per Basketball Reference. Yahoo Sports reports he signed a two-year, $12 million contract in the summer of 2025.
What he says changed
LaRavia said “a lot of it was mental,” per Yahoo Sports. “I think me being intentional before every game and all the reflection I did this past summer has really helped,” he said, per Yahoo Sports. He described the shift as “focusing more on the input rather than the output.” In practical terms, he is grading the shot he got, and the result comes second.
He made a mechanical change too. “I put my shot more to the right side of my body now, to just make it a little bit more linear,” he said, per Yahoo Sports. JJ Redick played down how much changed. Per Yahoo, Redick said the tweaks were small and that LaRavia already had a “really nice base and foundation to shoot with.” His summary: “I feel like he’s shooting the ball with a lot of confidence right now and he feels confident in the shot.”
A small tweak plus a shooter who stops pressing is a believable way to get back to 35%.
The preseason numbers, and the one that matters
Through three preseason games, LaRavia is 6-of-11 from three and 14-of-22 from the field, per Yahoo Sports. Against Sacramento on Oct. 8 he scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and went 3-of-6 from three.
The number I care about is the one Yahoo Sports reported: 5.9 three-point attempts per 36 minutes this preseason, compared with 3.8 in last year’s preseason and 4.2 in last year’s regular season. That is the direction I wanted to see. He is shooting without hesitating.
Here are the three figures side by side:
| Period | 3PA per 36 minutes |
|---|---|
| Last preseason | 3.8 |
| Last regular season | 4.2 |
| This preseason (3 games) | 5.9 |
If he stays above last season’s 4.2 per 36 once the games count and makes a third of them, the forward spot next to Doncic is in good shape. If he slides back to last season’s late-year pace of 2.4 attempts a game (a per-game figure, not per 36), the shot did not really come back.
Why the Lakers need it
Start with what the roster lost. I wrote about this in what LeBron’s departure took with it: the Lakers have to replace a lot of offense around Doncic and Austin Reaves, and I think the forward spots need shooters. LaRavia is 6-foot-7, per Basketball Reference.
His role matters even more when you look at the second unit. In my case for Collin Sexton leading the bench, I argued Redick should put Sexton next to bigger wings such as LaRavia and Adou Thiero. That plan only works if the wing is a threat. A guard who attacks off the dribble needs a forward standing in the corner whose defender cannot sag into the lane.
And the starters. When the Lakers played at Golden State on Oct. 6 without Doncic, Reaves, Walker Kessler and Sexton, LaRavia started, per Jovan Buha’s post. Redick later said LaRavia and Thiero “particularly were really good” in the second-half response, as I covered in the Redick “unacceptable” game. His role when the stars are back is still open.
What I would watch
Two things, in order:
- Attempts, not makes. More than last season’s 3.0 threes a game would show the shot is real in his own head. Two and a half would show the old habit.
- The first slump. Last season his attempts fell from 3.6 to 2.4 a game as the misses piled up. The test is whether he keeps firing in November.
Nobody knows yet whether the mental work holds. Shots taken per game shows it every night, which is why I would watch it before the percentage.
If LaRavia’s attempts stay up and the shot keeps falling, the forward spot next to Doncic is settled. If the shot is gone, the Lakers need to find another forward.