Lakers: Stanley Johnson working with trainer that transformed Alex Caruso

Stanley Johnson was one of the few bright spots for the Los Angeles Lakers last season. Signed during the season, Johnson was one of the few positive role players that the Lakers had in the rotation last season and is going to be a key depth piece moving forward. Johnson is a solid defensive player and if there is one side of the basketball that he can improve on it is the offensive side.

The biggest fix for Johnson is his three-point shooting as he shot 31.4% from beyond the arc last season and is a career 30.0% three-point shooter. If he can turn that around with his defense then he could become someone who plays really well next to LeBron James, similar to Alex Caruso before he left to Chicago.

Caruso made the necessary improvements to his game while with the Lakers to become arguably the most important role player on the team. While he was not a super dynamic offensive player, he was one of the best defensive guards in the league and went from a 33.3% three-point shooter in 2019-20 to a 40.1% three-point shooter the following season.

To make these improvements in shooting the basketball, Caruso trained with shooting coach Jordan Lawley. Johnson is seemingly following in Caruso’s footsteps as he too is training with Lawley this offseason.

You can see the Instagram reel that Lawley shared of Johnson working out here.

A three-point shot would make Stanley Johnson the best role player on the Lakers.

Even if Malik Monk returns to the Los Angeles Lakers next season, Johnson would surpass him if he could become a consistent three-point shooter that shoots around 38% from beyond the arc. Monk is a fantastic microwave scorer on the bench but Johnson would be the best two-way player on the Lakers.

The Lakers had some shooters on the roster last year but they could not play defense. Monk, Carmelo Anthony and Wayne Ellington were all great shooters last year but did not add the same impact on the defensive end.

On the defensive end, the Lakers had the likes of Talen Horton-Tucker and Avery Bradley to play serviceable defense but they were so bad on the offensive side of the basketball that it negated the solid defense.

There really is not a role player on the Lakers that is above-average on both sides of the basketball. While he won’t be a dynamic offensive playmaker, just adding a three-point shot to be an off-ball shooter would pay immense dividends to Johnson’s game.

This is extremely promising news for Laker fans and in a perfect world, Johnson will make the same kind of strides that Alex Caruso did.