1. Center
Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are set at the center position. It is not the most important position in today’s NBA and has been anchored down by two solid veterans in JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard with Anthony Davis playing some five in crunch time as well.
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However, the future of the center position is unclear for the Lakers. McGee has a player option for next season and while I doubt he leaves the team, there is always the possibility. Howard is a free agent who deserves to re-sign with the Lakers, but again, anything can happen.
You can even factor DeMarcus Cousins into the equation as a potential option. However, given Cousins’ injury history, I certainly would not rely on him being the guy for the position. Could the Lakers bring him back? Sure. But they should not fully trust him staying healthy.
Even if the Lakers do bring back McGee and Howard and sign Cousins, I still think they should be drafting a center. McGee and Howard are not long-term options and Cousins is either going to get hurt or play back up to his level and eventually price himself out of LA.
The most likely outcome is that the Lakers have McGee and Howard as the centers next season and it absolutely makes sense to draft a center that fits the team’s philosophy not only to provide minutes off the bench but provide that assurance that the team has options past the 2020 season.
They are not going to make an immediate impact and that is fine, that should not be the expectation of a late first-round pick. What they would add is depth in the one position that needs it the most moving forward.