{"id":138944,"date":"2025-05-10T20:13:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T00:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=138944"},"modified":"2025-05-10T20:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T00:13:09","slug":"rob-pelinka-alex-len-lakers-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/10\/rob-pelinka-alex-len-lakers-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Pelinka Explains Choice to Keep Veteran Center for Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Los Angeles Lakers <\/span>signed<\/span><\/a> center Alex Len<\/span><\/a> to recoup from the <\/span>rescinded<\/span><\/a> Mark Willams<\/span><\/a> trade, fans expected him to be a decent contributor for the rest of the season and, ideally, the playoffs. Fast forward a few months later, and the Lakers were gentleman-swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves. As for Len? He barely played, a bookend to an underwhelming campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers president Rob Pelinka has revealed why Len remained on the playoff roster instead of, say, younger centers <\/span>Christian Koloko<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Trey Jemison<\/span><\/a>, who were ineligible for the postseason due to their two-way contracts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rob Pelinka Explains Choice to Keep Veteran Center for Playoffs<\/b><\/h2>\n

Pelinka\u2019s Reasoning<\/b><\/h3>\n

Pelinka detailed the decision during an end-of-season press conference alongside head coach JJ Redick.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust that we thought Alex was a good player that deserved to be on our roster,\u201d Pelinka <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cAnd then ultimately JJ is gonna make the decision on who plays and who doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His remarks came weeks after a <\/span>source told ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin<\/span><\/a> that the team \u201cliked the chemistry of the group\u201d and wanted to keep the dynamic intact for the postseason.<\/span><\/p>\n

In ten regular season games (four starts), Len averaged 2.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game on 45% shooting from the field and 33% (1\/3) from three.<\/span><\/p>\n

Len only appeared in garbage time of the first round against the Timberwolves, playing four minutes over two games and averaging two rebounds per contest. The Lakers\u2019 decision to limit (and eventually bench) <\/span>Jaxson Hayes<\/span><\/a> did them no favors, as their <\/span>small-ball lineup<\/span><\/a> was torched by the T-Wolves\u2019 size and shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n

A 12-year veteran, Len ended his 2024-25 season playing 46 games between the Sacramento Kings and the Lakers. He averaged 1.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists on .508\/.222\/.471 splits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Could Free Agent Koloko Return This Offseason?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The <\/span>Lakers<\/span><\/a> have several options to address the gaping hole in the middle this summer. Aside from worrying about their <\/span>extension-eligible players<\/span><\/a> and other soon-to-be free agents, it\u2019d be worthwhile to retain Koloko, who was on a one-year two-way deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 24-year-old <\/span>returned to the NBA<\/span><\/a> after missing the 2023-24 season with a blood clot issue.\u00a0 He appeared in 37 games for the Lakers, averaging 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds on 60% shooting from the field. He proved to be an adequate rebounder and defender who filled the \u201clob threat\u201d role the Lakers lacked in the second unit. It\u2019s worth noting <\/span>Koloko<\/span><\/a> is eligible to sign another two-way contract, be it with the Lakers or elsewhere. Unless the team finds promising players in this year\u2019s draft class, the 7\u20191\u201d center deserves another shot with the purple and gold.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jemison Still Under Contract; is a Promotion Next?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Lakers will not have to worry about 25-year-old Trey Jemison, who remains on a two-way deal that expires next summer. However, could the Lakers call him up to aid their struggles at center?<\/span><\/p>\n

The former Clemson and UAB big man played 22 games for the Lakers, averaging 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds on 55% shooting. He quickly became a fan favorite for his <\/span>enforcer mentality<\/span><\/a>, which <\/span>sometimes<\/span><\/a> translated to the court. Similar to Koloko, Jemison was a solid rebounder and lob threat for the Lakers this season, while showing some <\/span>promising defense<\/span><\/a> as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the Lakers can further develop Jemison next year, there\u2019s a chance he has done enough to earn a guaranteed roster spot. The 6\u201911\u201d, 260-pound bruiser is one of the team\u2019s most physical centers, with the toughness and hustle to boot. His solid play earned the <\/span>trust of Redick and his staff by mid-March<\/span><\/a>, which only helps his case going forward. With the path toward center help becoming difficult for the Lakers, they could help themselves by giving Jemison a legitimate chance, something he clearly worked toward last season and could be rewarded with in due time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Los Angeles Lakers signed center Alex Len to recoup from the rescinded Mark Willams trade, fans expected him to be a decent contributor for the rest of the season and, ideally, the playoffs. Fast forward a few months later, and the Lakers were gentleman-swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves. As for Len? He barely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":138949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62],"tags":[46,4544,49997],"class_list":["post-138944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-alex-len","tag-christian-koloko","tag-trey-jemison"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138944"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138951,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138944\/revisions\/138951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}