NBA Daily: Bigs the Lakers Could Target

The Lakers won this off-season.

When you acquire an all-time great still reasonably in his prime, you are deemed the winner. It doesn’t matter what place you’re in, or what else you add in the off-season. Adding LeBron James is the ultimate trump card. No pun intended.

As for the other moves the Lakers have made, well, it’s complicated. Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson have wisely given the other players they’ve added this summer one-year deals to not interfere with their cap flexibility next season. But, with all the players they added besides LeBron this summer, their roster makeup can be summarized in one word: Unorthodox.

There are going to be a lot of questions surrounding the Lakers roster this season. Who is going to be in the starting five? Who will they play in crunch time? How will Luke Walton manage so many big egos in that locker room?

Among the many questions that they already have, there is one that may need to be resolved as quickly as possible for the Lakeshow: What are they going to do about their current center situation?

The Lakers have an intriguing collection of talent in positions 1-4, but at the 5, the Lakers are quite shallow. They currently have three players that can play the 5 position at the moment but all come with a red flag. The red flag is either he’s a rookie (Moe Wagner), he’s largely unproven (Ivica Zubac) or he’s JaVale freakin’ McGee (JaVale McGee), which could spell a lot of trouble if they don’t resolve this.

Unfortunately, the open market has almost completely dried up. With Trevor Booker now off the market, the Lakers’ best remaining options are Greg Monroe, David West, and Brandan Wright.

Those aren’t the worst backup bigs, but they aren’t any better than what the Lakers already have. Hope is not lost for the Lakers, however, because they have an ace in the hole named Luol Deng.

I’m dead serious. Kind of.

Deng has little value as a player. Since joining LA, Deng’s numbers have gone down the toilet. His decline, combined with him slated to make 18 million dollars this season, makes his contract an albatross.

Trading him would be tough, but it is doable now that Deng has only two years left on his deal. If they play their cards right, the Lakers can trade Deng for a big who could at least be an upgrade over what they have now. They can do this in two different ways.

The first option for the Lakers would be to trade their horribly overpaid wing for a horribly overpaid center. They wouldn’t get out of Deng’s contract, but at least they’d be overpaying for someone who fills a need, which Deng does not.

Who could that be? Well, let’s take a look at the albatrosses the Lakers could target.

Overpaid but productive centers

Tristan Thompson: Thompson has had his issues, but he is at the very least a proven commodity. The reason why the Lakers might look to trade for him is his familiarity with LeBron. When motivated, Thompson provides a good presence on the interior, as his rebounding and defense can come in quite handy for a team that has LeBron James, as evidenced by their success together in Cleveland.

This would be all contingent on Cleveland blowing their roster up, which they haven’t done yet. Don’t expect Thompson to go anywhere if Cleveland is still trying to win post-LeBron, but if they decide to rebuild, then Thompson would be something to look at if they trade Deng for him.

Bismack Biyombo: Biyombo is a quality shot-blocker and rebounder given the minutes he’s played. Averaging 5.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks all while shooting 52 percent from the field isn’t too shabby for a guy who played 18 minutes a game last year.

Biyombo is also in the middle of a logjam at the five in Charlotte. They have him, Cody Zeller, Frank Kaminsky, and Willy Hernangomez to split time at center, which could make Biz the odd man out in that group. If the Lakers were to trade for him, he wouldn’t have the same problem and his role would be pretty similar to the one he had in Toronto: Rebound and block shots.

John Henson: In 26 minutes a game this season, Henson was adequate, averaging 8.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 14 blocks while shooting 57% from the field. He’s not grossly overpaid like the previous two mentioned, but he’s not likely to play as many minutes given the Bucks’ current roster.

By adding Brook Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova and developing Thon Maker, the Bucks are clearly emphasizing that they want shooting in their frontcourt, which means that Henson is likely to be phased out. Acquiring Henson is an upgrade and could save the Lakers money, but it would also potentially mean they’d have to give up a little more to get him. Deng’s skill set would fit what the Bucks are trying to do, but they’d be more hesitant to swallow his contract.

Those are not exactly the best names, but they fill a need and the Lakers wouldn’t have to give up much besides Deng for them.

There is another option for the Lakers. If they really are desperate to get off Deng’s contract, they could throw in some value to trade Deng for a center who has a large expiring contract. That would most definitely require throwing in a first-round pick(s), but since 2019’s free agency is going to be loaded with talent, that might be a risk worth taking. It’d be killing two birds with one stone. Also, since the following centers will be playing for the next contract, the effort won’t be a problem.

“Two Birds With One Stone” Centers

Robin Lopez: With Wendell Carter added to a rebuilding team that values shooting, Robin Lopez doesn’t appear to be part of the Bulls’ future plans past this season. Trading Deng to Chicago would be a tad awkward given the rocky end between the two of them during Deng’s first tenure, but if they stretched his contact, it’d be no skin off anyone’s nose.

Though his rebounding numbers dwindled, Lopez is a solid defender for his size and he averaged a career-high 11.8 points a game last season. His role would be more defined on the Lakers, plus, how many teams can say that they employed both the Lopez twins at one point in their careers?

Nikola Vucevic: Vuc is also likely to see reduced minutes this season to make room for Orlando’s newest young center, Mo Bamba. By drafting Bamba, it’s clear that Vucevic’s days in Orlando are numbered. Since Orlando is bound for even more rebuilding, they may be willing to absorb Deng for Vuc if it means getting another asset.

Vucevic does not have the same reputation as some of the others listed defensively, but he is the best offensive option on this list. Vucevic has a great arsenal of moves on the offensive side of the ball, as he averaged 16.5 points and 9.2 rebounds on 47.5 percent shooting. His half-decent three-point shot – shot 31 percent from three – could also help fill the void that Brook Lopez left. Vucevic for Deng does not work straight up, but adding Jerian Grant or D.J. Augustin would do the trick.

Dewayne Dedmon: Unlike the other teams mentioned on this list, Atlanta has made deals both to take in and relinquish long-term contracts to aid their rebuild, so they would be a realistic destination.

Dedmon’s skill set would fit in well with what the Lakers are doing. He’s an athletic 5 who can rebound and shoot from distance. He has proved in the past how useful he can be when he is playing for a good team, so the Lakers would be foolish to not look into him. Deng for Dedmon does not work straight up, but if the Lakers would be down for a Jeremy Lin reunion, then a deal could be struck.

Now if the Lakers think they are fine the way they are, then who am I to argue? Luke Walton has so far proven that he knows what he’s doing, so he could get creative with who else they play at center. With all the versatility they added, they might try playing LeBron or Brandon Ingram at the 5 in small-ball groups. Those hypothetical lineups could very well prove successful, but small-ball shouldn’t be played throughout the entire game.

And hey, if all else fails, Timofey Mozgov is probably available…