The Los Angeles Lakers roster currently sits at 13 players after an initial flurry of free-agent signings that fans were more than pleased with. The next obvious need for the purple and gold is at center, with Rob Pelinka admitting that the team is active in the center market.
It has become clear that Pelinka and the front office are proceeding with patience as the center market has been very depleted. That patience is being paid off, as new intriguing options are hitting the market every day now.
One day after the Oklahoma City Thunder waived young big man Usman Garuba, the Dallas Mavericks have stretched and waived former Lakers champion JaVale McGee to bring back another former Lakers champion, Markieff Morris.
The Dallas Mavericks are planning to stretch-and-waive center JaVale McGee and re-sign F/C Markieff Morris on a deal, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Mavs must execute stretch-and-waive by next week.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 22, 2023
This is the same technique that the Lakers used to waive Luol Deng years ago to create cap space. The Lakers benefitted from doing so with Deng and now the team can also benefit from the Mavericks doing so with McGee.
JaVale McGee makes sense as a Lakers free agency target.
The center market is very depleted at this point in time and it has become clear that Christian Wood might not be a viable option. If the Lakers were going to sign Wood by now it would have happened. Instead, the team seems to be giving way to the notable player that reportedly has an issue with Wood coming to LA.
Outside of Wood, the options are limited. McGee might be flawed and he might be past his prime but he is a far better option than Bismack Biyombo, who is also both of those things and is less talented than McGee as well.
McGee does not add the floor spacing that the Lakers are rumored to want in another center but that is fine. All this Lakers team needs is someone to play 15 minutes off the bench during the regular season to keep Anthony Davis fresh. McGee can certainly do that.
Now the Lakers are at a crossroads and the team can decide to go one of two directions. Los Angeles could either go the veteran route and bring in someone who has won a championship in LA and knows what it takes.
Or, the team can buy into the potential of a younger option (Garuba) and hope to do something that no other team has been able to do so far: unlock the potential that he has in his game.
Either way, the outlook at the center position is far better now than it was a week ago.