JJ Redick inherited the Lakers catch-22 situation: Anthony Davis is by far the best center of the Lakers, but Anthony Davis does not want to play the five full time.
Davis wants to play more next to a traditional center, someone who will absorb more of the physicality. Last season, Davis played 97% of his minutes at center, and the Lakers didn’t change the roster this offseason and add a big man, so expect more of the same (especially with Christian Wood now misses the start of the season after knee surgery). Now comes this note from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin when looking at the big questions facing the Lakers this season.
One thing Davis has made clear to the Lakers, sources told ESPN, is his preference to play with another big more often.
This is not how the Lakers will start the season. The Lakers can get some minutes from Davis with Jaxson Hayes, but in a limited run last season, that pairing didn’t look great (-9.4 net rating), and it’s not the long-term answer.
Any long-term answer probably comes through trade, and ESPN’s McMenamin says to keep an eye on Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas.
One name to watch: Jonas Valanciunas of the Washington Wizards. [LeBron] James offered to take a pay cut to open the full mid-level exception to sign the free agent big man, but he opted for more guaranteed money from a three-year, $30 million deal in Washington.
It’s worth noting here that McMenamin said Valanciunas opted for more guaranteed money. The deal he signed has two years of $20.3 million guaranteed, and the third year, at $10 million, is non-guaranteed. This means that the Lakers only offered one guaranteed year, or maybe only a partial guarantee in the second year. Should the Lakers have offered more if LeBron was willing to take a discount to sign him? Los Angeles may have been more focused on trying to figure out a sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson at the time, which proved another swing-and-miss by Pelinka and company.
Valanciunas is expected to be available after Dec. 15 and fits the mold for Los Angeles: experienced traditional center, big body who can score around the rim but spread the floor as well (career 34.8% from 3). Valanciunas is guaranteed $9.9 million this season. The challenge is that the Lakers won’t be the only team looking for help at center, and the Pelicans and Knicks are expected to be suitors for traditional centers (the Pelicans let Valanciunas go after last season, they won’t be in the market for him) . Los Angeles can easily match salary for a trade with Gabe Vincent or Jared Vanderbilt, but the rebuilding Wizards will be asking for a first-round pick (probably protected) or a quality young player as part of the package. Other centers, like Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton, are likely also available, but again, the price is about young players and picks to help a rebuilding team.
Whether the Lakers are willing to meet that price will depend on where they stand and how the season looks in mid-December when Valanciunas and others are available. Whatever happens, it could end up being another season where Davis plays a lot more center than he likes.
