Devontae Cacok could become much more than just a two-way player for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Barring any setbacks, the Los Angeles Lakers and the rest of the NBA will be back in action on July 30 at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The league is returning with 22 teams, eight “seeding games” and a mostly regular slate of NBA Playoffs.
The only thing that is different about the playoffs (that we know about right now) is that the ninth seed could get a chance for a short play-in tournament if they finish within four games of the eighth seed.
In this situation, the ninth seed has to beat the eighth seed in back-to-back games to become the new eighth seed. The eighth seed just has to beat the ninth seed once.
Laker fans are thrilled about the return of the regular season as it allows the team to finish what they started and not remember the 2019-20 season as a season of what-if. While there certainly are plenty of variables that absolutely could change what the final result would have been, Laker fans at least get to see their team try and win championship number 17.
Not every Laker player is fully onboard to return to action, though. Kyrie Irving led a conference call with around 100 players on Friday, expressing concerns about returning to play with the ongoing social issues in the United States. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski outlined some of the things that Irving said in the conference call:
"“Irving made an impassioned plea for players to make a stand and sit out the season’s resumption in Orlando, sources said.”"
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Dwight Howard, Donovan Mitchell and Carmelo Anthony (among others) also spoke out about potentially sitting out of the NBA’s resumed regular season due to social issues/COVID 19.
It is Howard’s (and any other NBA player’s) right as a human being to not participate in the season’s resumption and that is something that nobody should ever hold against him. However, it does leave a hole on the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster that would have to be addressed.
The first name that jumps to mind is DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins is no longer a Laker, but since he was under contract at some point this season, he could qualify as a replacement player option, according to the requirements that were outlined by Wojnarowski.
While Cousins should be ready and healthy by the time the season resumes, you never know. He has suffered various different injuries to the same right leg and the Lakers, even if they bring Cousins back, need to be precautious. That makes one player much more important than he was before.
Devontae Cacok is now more important to the Los Angeles Lakers’ success
Devontae Cacok could suddenly become much more than a two-way player that simply sits at the end of the bench once the season resumes. Without Howard, he could find himself playing a valuable role on the Los Angeles Lakers as a depth big man.
His role would not be that large as the team would adjust. Most notably, the Lakers would probably have Anthony Davis play more minutes at center, giving more minutes to Kyle Kuzma at the power forward position.
However, there will be some minutes that need to be filled and Cacok is absolutely capable of providing to the Lakers right away. He is a bit undersized, but that is actually not a massive deal in today’s NBA.
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Most importantly, Cacok has been exceptional for the South Bay Lakers this season. Similar to Thomas Bryant, who was great and is now a rotation-caliber center elsewhere, Cacok could be a hidden gem for the Lakers.
Cacok averaged 19.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game this season. He is not a great shot-blocker and does not stretch the floor, but can be someone who the Lakers task to camp inside and grab boards.
Despite his size, Cacok has always been a really good rebounder. He averaged 13.5 and 12.3 rebounds per game in his last two seasons in college. He would provide the rebounding production that Howard is currently providing to the team.
The Lakers were reportedly already planning on giving Cacok some minutes as well, as Cacok himself revealed that he was set to be called up on March 12 against the Houston Rockets, a game that obviously was postponed.