Lakers desperately need another center now

Lakers desperately need another center now

The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks simultaneously shocked the entire NBA world Saturday night with a Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis blockbuster that nobody thought was conceivable 24 hours ago. It was one of the most shocking trades not only in NBA history, but in sports history.

While the Lakers acquired a 25-year-old superstar that will be their future for the next decade-plus, they still have work to do after trading Davis. Less than two weeks after their former 31-year-old big campaigned for Los Angeles to add another big in the frontcourt, they desperately need to address the big man rotation now.

Davis was the backbone to the entire Lakers’ defensive structure, even though they improved the unit by adding Dorian Finney-Smith (trade) and, most recently, Jarred Vanderbilt (injury). Since the start of the new year, the Lakers have had the 8th-best defense.

Better yet, when one of Finney-Smith or Vanderbilt was on the court without Davis, the Lakers sported a 108.9 defensive rating (89th percentile) with a 50.2 effective field goal percentage allowed (97th percentile), according to Cleaning The Glass. That’s a top-5 defense prorated over an entire season, though that’s only a 306 possession sample.

That’s a small sample. While JJ Redick can sprinkle small-ball lineups with Vanderbilt at the 5, that’s not a sustainable option if the Lakers want to make a deep postseason run. The center is largely the position you scheme your defensive structure around–and the Lakers’ entire scheme was build around Anthony Davis.

He’s one of the best defenders in the entire league. He erases everything around the rim and he’s capable of defending in space when he’s asked to. He’s a game-changer on that end of the floor alone, so that loss will hurt in that respect.

As it stands right now, Jaxson Hayes is the team’s starting big. Hayes a springy rim-running big that can block shots, averaging 11.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per 75 minutes on 67.5 percent shooting and 76.9 percent from the free-throw line. Hayes is a rotation-level big, but their options behind him are even worse–especially with Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood‘s injuries.

When you’re offered Luka Doncic, you acquire him and you figure it out later. Davis is excellent, but he’s not Doncic. Nobody is Doncic, who is, at worst, a top-3 player in the league when he’s healthy and right. You build an franchise around him, and that will be Rob Pelinka’s responsibility–starting by adding a defensive-minded big around him, whether that’s this week or next summer.

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