The Los Angeles Lakers have had an excellent offseason thus far, building out a 13-man roster via free agency that is better than last year’s team. If all goes right, this is a Lakers team that can legitimately be playing in the NBA Finals.
With two roster spots left to fill, one need has been thrust into the spotlight. Rob Pelinka confirmed the team was active in the center market and wants to bring in a big that has a different skill set than Jaxson Hayes (can space the floor). All signs have then pointed to Christian Wood.
However, there are some concerns about Wood, how he could distract the team, and how a prominent player on the team may not even want him in LA. All of these factors are working against Wood, which could cause LA to look in a different direction.
These three floor-spacing centers would be better for the Lakers than Christian Wood:
1. Markieff Morris
We dedicated an entire article to Markieff Morris, who would be returning to Los Angeles if he were to sign with the Lakers. Morris’ production over the last two seasons has gone down but he has proven that he can hit shots on the biggest stage for the Lakers.
Morris was such an important part of the 2020 championship run as he and Rajon Rondo were the two best three-point shooting role players on the team. Morris swung entire games with his red-hot three-point shooting and he could certainly do the same again.
Morris is not a traditional center but in today’s NBA he is good enough to be a backup five. If the Lakers are playing Anthony Davis with Hayes, the team could run a really big, flexible second unit that includes Morris, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt.
2. JaMychal Green
The Lakers just matched up against JaMychal Green in the 2023 NBA Playoffs as he had a bigger role than the Golden State Warriors were expecting. Kevon Looney came down with an illness and this forced Golden State to play Green more as they didn’t have many size options.
This was an awful matchup for the Warriors with the Lakers being a much bigger team that could capitalize on that difference. That may have looked Green look like a bad option but in reality, he could still bring what the Lakers are looking for.
Like Morris, he is not a traditional center but can still play the backup five and can space the floor as well. The veteran big shot 37.8% from beyond the arc last season and is a career 38.3% shooter from three in the playoffs.
JaMychal Green would bring a lot of playoff experience to the Lakers
Green’s strong shooting numbers in the playoffs do not come in a small sample size. While he has never won a championship, Green has a lot of playoff experience that would be beneficial to add to this Lakers roster.
Green has played 56 playoff games across eight different appearances in the playoffs. He is someone who could give the Lakers 10 minutes a game off the bench, knock down a few three-point shots, and call it a day. That is all LA needs.
3. Gorgui Dieng
The list of remaining bigs on the free-agent market that can also space the floor is pretty bleak. Gorgui Dieng is not someone who a fanbase is going to get overly excited about as he is not really that much of a game-changer.
Wood is far more talented than Dieng is at this point in time, that goes without saying. However, as mentioned, Wood comes with additional baggage and the Lakers may simply be looking for depth in the regular season.
At some point, the difference in talent (especially for a depth role) does not make up for the drawbacks of a potential locker room distraction. For that reason, it would not be insane to see the Lakers take a flier on Dieng instead of Wood.
Gorgui Dieng could be a perfect short-term solution for the Lakers
Adding to Dieng’s value is the fact that his free-agent value is not very high. Let us explain.
Dieng does not have a robust market of teams knocking at his door to sign him. For that reason, more so than the other players on this list, the Lakers have a chance to sign him to a non-guaranteed deal, which could be the best of both worlds.
The team would be getting someone who can give them depth now and simply eat some minutes early in the season. Then, when a better option becomes available, the Lakers could get off Dieng’s deal without having to pay his full salary in order to bring in someone else.
Sometimes in the NBA short-term commitments are a good thing and if the Lakers are really lucky then Dieng could win the team a game with a clutch three-point shot like Matt Ryan did before getting waived last year.