2. Hassan Whiteside
Hassan Whiteside is another player that probably should be on an NBA team right now but ultimately had no suitors in free agency over the summer. It is unclear how someone like DeAndre Jordan landed a rotation role in the league this season while Whiteside has been waiting at home for his chance.
Heck, you could make the case that Whiteside should have been a Laker. There was a conscious effort by the team to get younger in free agency and that is part of the reason why Damian Jones got the nod. But at the center position, it doesn’t really matter and the team would have been better off with a true rim-protecting big like Whiteside.
Whiteside’s game is not complicated and he would not open things up for the Lakers to be a different basketball team. He is a traditional rebounding and shot-blocking big who will live near the glass and make things happen.
And that is just fine! Los Angeles could really use the shot-blocking that Whiteside would provide while Davis is out. We have also seen firsthand with JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard that having this kind of center next to Davis can work in smaller stretches as well.
It isn’t like Whiteside put up completely terrible numbers last season, either. In 17.9 minutes per game backing up Rudy Gobert, Whiteside averaged 8.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.