Heading into the offseason, the Lakers have had high hopes of landing some free agents. After a month or so, many of these free agents have made their moves and that’s not coming to L.A. A slow start to the offseason besides the acquisition of new Lakers head coach, JJ Redick. The Lakers have evaluated their struggles over the past several seasons and are in dire need of a big man to allow star Anthony Davis to play the four. This lineup is what helped the Lakers get their championship in 2020. One person who the Lakers can try pursuing to fit this role is Robert Williams.
Lakers Rumors: LA Looking to Acquire Robert Williams
The Lakers have been in rumors with Williams, but he has been dealing with some injuries. Lakers faithful are disappointed with not acquiring anybody so far but still have hope and rumoring that the Lakers could still try to land a big man.
JJ Redick on Wanting to Add Center
Lakers head coach JJ Redick has been on the radar and working alongside the organization to ultimately make something happen. His goal is to get this Lakers team back to championship contention. His and the franchise’s desire sits with a lot of fans, is to add a big bruising center.
On Sirius XMNBA Radio, when asked about the current roster Redick believes it is a very good and balanced roster. He proposed the idea of an upgraded center to put Anthony Davis in the power forward spot would help.
“We’d love to, we tried, but we’d love to at some point, get another five man, a big bruising five man. You look at the Western Conference right now, whether it’s Denver, Minnesota, OKC with what they added, certainly Memphis, they’re going to be back in the hunt, they added Zach Edey, certain matchups in the playoffs, you’re going to need a lot of size.”
“I want that challenge. I’m not going to run from that challenge”
New Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick explains the comments he made in 2022 about LA not being a good job at that time@TermineRadio | @jumpshot8 | @SiriusXMSports | #NBA2KSummerLeague pic.twitter.com/uLN9tH41Ex
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 13, 2024
Analyzing the Center Position for the Lakers
The center position is a prominent factor for many teams throughout the NBA. Players like Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić have dominated and proven to be high-caliber players on teams that make it throughout the playoffs year in and out. Something the Lakers struggled with over the past several years is containing the opposing team from rebounds. Adding a center with Anthony Davis at the four spot can solve the issue of defensive and offensive rebounding for the team.
Davis has played the five spot for the Lakers for the past several years. When Davis had been resting or out of the lineup, players like Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood had to pick up. Both have had their moments, but they don’t bring what Redick was speaking on, that “big bruising center”.
When the Lakers had success and won the NBA championship in 2020, they had Davis play roughly most of his minutes at the four spot, while they had JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard cover the five spot covering that big bruising center position. It worked phenomenally for them as they were a very dominant defensive team that wouldn’t allow teams to get any rebounds.
The Last Word
The pursuit of a big bruising center is still not out of reach. Especially, with Robert Williams. The Lakers have the contracts to make such a deal work. Williams is in the third season of his four-year $48 million contract. With Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood-Schifino; they could possibly attach a draft pick to get it done. Williams when healthy has proven to be a very efficient big man and a great rebounder. A dominant defensive guy that would alleviate some of the defensive load for Davis. Which is something the Lakers desperately need.
Relieving the load off of Davis’s shoulders, so he can be more prominent on offense would be a huge factor. Bringing back the lineup style in 2020 could be the answer the Lakers need to get back in championship contention. The Lakers missed out on several players in free agency, but there is still hope and opportunity in acquiring a big man.
