The Los Angeles Lakers have one open roster spot. Here are some backup centers that they can look at.
The Los Angeles Lakers had two open roster spots that they were looking for a backup center and another ball-handler. They signed Quinn Cook to help fill the ball-handler role and now they will look for a center that can backup Marc Gasol. Gasol has an injury history and is getting older.
Rob Pelinka had a great offseason helping tool the Lakers roster that is better on paper than last year. It will be interesting to see how all the pieces fit. But the team got better on offense, with more spacing, scoring and paint play.
Dennis Schröder is a good ball-handler and shot creator, Montrezl Harrell is good in the paint and Wesley Matthews is a good floor spacer. Gasol will help provide a tough presence in the middle and a good veteran for this team. But as of right now he remains the only center on the roster.
So the Lakers will be relegated to bargain-bin shopping with the veteran minimum available. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as there is a lot of good value out there. Players that are still on the market aren’t likely to get long-term deals or a high average of pay.
So Pelinka can look around and see what is out there and that will best suit the team. The team will likely go small late in games with AD at the five. So this signing wouldn’t be someone who will have to come in and play big minutes, just someone who can play 10-15 minutes a night and spot-start.
Let’s take a look.