It has long been the Lakers conundrum: Anthony Davis is their best center, one of the best in the league, but he doesn’t like the physicality of playing the five nightly and wants to play most of his time at the four next to a more traditional center.
The Lakers are looking for that center, reports Shams Charania of ESPN, appearing on NBA Today. He also discussed the Lakers bigs on the roster: Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood (who is out until mid-to-late November after having his knee scoped) and two-way player Christian Koloko (who has yet to be cleared by the league to play after missing all of last season with a blood clot issue).
“Sources tell me the Lakers have been exploring potentially adding a big man, a center to their roster. Not sure exactly when that will take place, but they have started looking into the marketplace. Christian Wood remains sidelined, he’s got a knee issue. He had surgery recently and so they’re waiting for him to get back. But Jaxson Hayes, in the interim, has really stepped up in training camp. He’s been a positive factor for the Lakers. But another thing to keep an eye on is Christian Koloko. They signed him to a two-way contract before training camp. He was expected to play a potential reserve role on this roster and our Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin and I have heard internally the Lakers doctors have felt confident that he will be cleared by the league’s fitness to play panel due to his blood clot issue, but that is still an ongoing process. The Lakers are still waiting for answers from the league, from the [Players Association] on his clearance, that’s going to be a major factor to keep an eye on because this was a guy in Koloko who was gonna play a potential role down the stretch of this Lakers season.”
Wood knows how to get buckets but isn’t much of a defender, while both Hayes and (to a greater extent) Koloko are athletic but raw. None of them can fill the role the team needs right now. The best free agent centers available — Robin Lopez and JaVale McGee — are older and still available for a reason.
That brings us to the trade market and centers who might become available. One name to watch is Jonas Valanciunas, the Wizards are rebuilding and will be looking to move on from a few veterans including him. However, because Valanciunas re-signed this summer he cannot be traded until after Dec. 15.
The Lakers are not the only team in the market for a center — New Orleans desperately needs a center, so much so they might be starting 6’7″ Herb Jones at the five this season (you can argue Zion Williamson is really the center in those lineups, but he’s no center either, especially defensively). What that means is that if a quality center becomes available, there could be a mini bidding war. The Lakers have a couple of first-round picks and some younger players to try and get a deal done.
How the Lakers play the first third to half of the season could determine what they do in terms of trades. If Los Angeles gets off to a fast start and is in the mix for a top-five seed, they may give up on those future picks and go all-in to win now. But, if they are battling for a 8-9 seed and a play-in spot, the sense in league circles is they become far less likely to give up on picks they will need to rebuild just to become moderately better — but not a genuine playoff threat to Oklahoma City/Denver/Dallas at the top of the West.
