JJ Redick inherited the Lakers’ catch-22 situation: Anthony Davis is by far the Lakers’ best center, but Anthony Davis doesn’t want to play the five full-time.
Davis wants to play more next to a traditional center, someone who absorbs more physicality. Last season, Davis played 97% of his minutes as a center, and the Lakers didn’t make any changes to the roster or add a big man this offseason, so more of the same is in store (especially with Christian Wood will now miss the start of the season after knee surgery). Now comes this note from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin as we take a look at the big questions facing the Lakers this season.
According to sources told ESPN, Davis has made it clear to the Lakers that he prefers to play with another big player more often.
That’s not how the Lakers will start the season. The Lakers can use Davis with Jaxson Hayes minutes, but in a limited series last season that combination didn’t look great (-9.4 net rating) and it’s not the long-term solution.
A long-term answer will likely come through trade, and ESPN’s McMenamin says we should keep an eye on Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas.
One name to keep an eye on: Jonas Valanciunas of the Washington Wizards. [LeBron] James offered to take a pay cut to open the full midlevel exception and sign the free agent big man, but he opted for more guaranteed money in the form of a three-year, $30 million contract 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, $10 million, is non-guaranteed. This means the Lakers only offered one guaranteed year, or perhaps only a partial guarantee in the second year. Should the Lakers have offered more if LeBron had been willing to take a cut to sign him? Los Angeles may have been more focused on trying to work out a sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson at the time, which turned out to be another misstep by Pelinka and co.
Valanciunas is expected to be available after December 15th and fits the bill for Los Angeles: an experienced traditional center, a big body who can score around the rim but also space the floor (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, with both the Pelicans and Knicks expected to be interested in traditional centers (the Pelicans let Valanciunas go after last season; they won’t be in the market for him). Los Angeles could easily match the salary in a trade involving Gabe Vincent or Jared Vanderbilt, but the rebuilding Wizards will want a first-round pick (likely protected) or a quality young player as part of the package. Other centers, like Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton, are also likely available, but again, the price will go to young players and picks to help a rebuilding team.
Whether the Lakers are willing to pay that price depends on where they are and what the season looks like in mid-December, when Valanciunas and others become available. Whatever happens, it could be another season in which Davis plays far more center than he would like.
