Deep into the offseason, what is the biggest remaining need for the Lakers in free agency?
Basketball is back in full swing, even if the Lakers are not. Team USA advanced out of group play with a perfect record with Anthony Davis and LeBron James at the center of it.
Back in America, though, the Lakers are also apparently just watching the Olympics with the rest of us as, still, nothing has happened with them this offseason.
Which leaves us with lots of questions, still, so let’s dive into this week’s mailbag.
Perhaps this has been a little bit of recency bias, but I think that big, bruising center JJ Redick and the Lakers wanted is the top need on this team. Anthony Davis looking like a defensive destroyer of worlds next to a center has really impacted my thoughts on the roster heading into next season.
Largely speaking, I think the Lakers have those other things ticked off. Christian Wood, and AD to that point, have the mobile big part covered. While they don’t have a true 3-and-D, I think there are options there, whether it’s piecing together Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura minutes for a little of both or the potential development of Max Christie.
Vando and Gabe Vincent, if both are healthy, are your point-of-attack defenders. This team just simply doesn’t have someone classified as a big bruising center. That’d be at the top of my list right now.
The short answer is no. Outside of the comments we’ve seen, there’s no indication of anything Redick will run this season.
I think you can use some logic to try to get a sense. Think of big men who are hubs of offenses across the league. He’s not going to be used like Nikola Jokic because no one is like him. He’s not going to be used like Joel Embiid because his game isn’t built on post-ups.
I think the closest version could be how Bam Adebayo is used with the Heat. The Heat play through him, using him in pick and rolls and in dribble hand offs with players running off of him. I think the Lakers will look something closer to that, but that’s a pure guess.
Defense: Vincent-Christie-Vando-LeBron-AD
Offense and 3-point: D’Lo-Reaves-Rui-LeBron-AD
Small ball: D’Lo-Reaves-Vando-Rui-LeBron
Tall Ball: Reaves-Vando-LeBron-AD-Hayes
Over the last three years, it’s been released on Aug. 17, Aug. 18 and Aug. 20, so in about two weeks.
Financially, yes, this trade would work. From a roster-building standpoint, though, it would give the Lakers a center, but there’s no way DeAndre Ayton could be described as big and bruising.
Even though that doesn’t immediately rule him out as an option, I think Ayton’s price point relative to his production is lopsided, to say the least. The big man you want next to AD is a rim protector who can be the bruiser to take the defensive assignments against your Jokics and Embiids and while Ayton can physically do that, he doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.
You also have to keep in mind that trading away D’Lo without bringing back a point guard leaves a pretty big hole in the rotation, as our own Alex Regla recently explored.
We’ll be back next week with another mailbag piece, so be sure to look out for it!
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
