4 burning questions for the Los Angeles Lakers before free agency

To the surprise of no one, Russell Westbrook announced he will exercise his $47.1 million player option and re-join the Los Angeles Lakers this coming season. Additionally, Kyrie Irving has exercised his $37 million option with the Nets, effectively ending speculation that the Lakers might sign or trade for him.

Although it’s possible the Lakers will pull off some trade, it’s more likely that their focus will be on adding players through free agency, which begins on Friday.

The top-heavy Lakers roster will once again depend on the ability of its two big stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, to stay on the court. This past season the duo played only 96 of the team’s 164 games. Regardless of anything else, the Lakers need both to play at the same level they did when they led the team to the 2020 title.

The rest of the roster includes Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn, who missed the entire 2021-22 season, Talen Horton-Tucker, who had a disappointing season but is still only age 21, and in all likelihood three young, hustling players, Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson and Wenyen Gabriel.

Add in recently-drafted rookie Max Christie and that totals 9 players. How will GM Rob Pelinka complete the roster?

1. Who will play center for the Los Angeles Lakers?

Although AD will log some minutes at the 5, and power forward Gabriel can fill in here and there, the Lakers have no other true centers on the roster. Signing at least one and hopefully, two legitimate bigs should be the top priority for Pelinka.

The GM will once again be constrained by the salary cap. The two top free-agent centers, Jusuf Nurkic and Deandre Ayton, will command much bigger contracts than the Lakers are allowed to offer. So who can they afford?

It’s hard to predict how much money any one player will be offered on the open market. But there is a lengthy list of possibilities. Available veterans include Hassan Whiteside, Robin Lopez, Serge Ibaka, Dewayne Dedmon, Tristan Thompson and Gorgui Dieng. Several former Laker bigs are unsigned, including Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, Montrezl Harrell, Andre Drummond, Thomas Bryant, Ed Davis and Damian Jones.

Signing a younger free-agent center could be difficult because their earnings are still spiraling upward. Still, possibilities include Mo Bamba (a restricted FA), Bismarck Biyombo, Mitchell Robinson, Isaiah Hartenstein, Bol Bol (restricted), Bryant and Jones.

One of the more intriguing possibilities is Damian Jones. He played just 8 games for the Lakers in 2021 on a 10-day contract but was reasonably impressive. He was released to make room for Drummond and ended up playing the rest of that season and all of last year for the Kings.

His stats don’t jump off the page, but last season he averaged 8 points, 4.4 rebounds and nearly 1 block in 18 minutes a game. He even connected on 34.5% of his 3-point attempts and 66% overall. Jones would add youth and energy to a squad badly in need of it and would be an excellent signing for the Lakers.

Of the veterans, either Howard or McGee, each a fan favorite, would be a good backup big. Lopez would be a nice pick-up as would Whiteside, who the Lakers have not pursued the past two seasons. Biyombo and Robinson would presumably be two of the Lakers’ top targets, although each is expected to re-sign with their current team, the Suns and Knicks respectively.

One other possibility is 7-1 Jay Huff, who signed a two-way contract with the Lakers last season. He played sparingly in just 4 games and was waived. But stranger things have happened so it’s possible he’ll return.