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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…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lakers-reportedly-looking-marketplace-another-135037409.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-11 13:50:37
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