The Los Angeles Lakers made a roster move ahead of their Wednesday night victory over the Clippers, signing Lawson Lovering to a two-way deal.
Lovering is a center who adds depth at the backup five, something the Lakers desperately need. Depth is about all Lovering offers, at least from my point of view. Lovering has never stood out in any way. So in this piece, I’ll outline three bigs I wish the Lakers had pursued earlier with their two-way spot to avoid having limited options and landing on Lovering.
Jesse Edwards
Edwards leads this list because, to me, he was the clearest candidate for a two-way spot with the Lakers. Edwards was a five-year college player who spent four years with Syracuse before transferring to West Virginia in his final season.
In his last two years with the Orange, he averaged 2.8 and 2.7 blocks per game and was one of college basketball's most elite rim protectors. At 7-foot-even, with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, he is a giant human being who understands the strengths of his game and plays to them.
Edwards is a proficient screen-and-roller, lob threat, rebounder, and rim protector. His offense is limited outside 10 feet from the basket, but the Lakers don’t really need a third-string big to do more than that.
His NBA career hasn’t really taken off. He played two games for the Minnesota Timberwolves and five total minutes in 2024-25 before splitting time between Spain and Australia last season. Edwards spent this past Summer League with the Milwaukee Bucks. While he wasn’t a standout, he continued to shine as a traditional big man. He is currently listed as a free agent on RealGM.
Edwards has been waiting for a real breakthrough into the NBA. The Lakers would’ve been the perfect fit for him.
Adama Sanogo
Next is Adama Sanogo, who won Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 NCAA tournament as part of UConn's 2023 national title run. He was also a two-time All-Big East First-Team member and had an awesome career at the collegiate level.
Sanogo is a 6-foot-9 big man who compensates for being undersized at the five with his strength and physical style of play. To be blunt, Sanogo looks like he’s built out of cinderblocks. He’s a strong, bruising force in the paint, a solid rim protector and play finisher, plus he plays with a high motor.
Sanogo spent two years between the NBA and G League with the Chicago Bulls, appearing in 13 NBA games over that span, but then moved overseas to play for Hapoel Holon in Israel.
He is under contract with a pro team right now. However, the chance to stay in the NBA and play for a team like the Lakers, who need stability in the frontcourt, would’ve been super enticing. Especially when you consider how easy his life would be sharing the court with a creator like Luka Doncic.
The long-term upside of earning a standard NBA contract could've outweighed what he stood to gain overseas.
I’ve been a fan of Sanogo since his college days because he plays so hard and is a monster physically. Unfortunately, the Lakers missed their chance to bring him in, at least for now.
Ibou Badji
Ibou Badji rounds out the list and would’ve been the biggest upside swing the Lakers could’ve taken. Unlike Edwards and Sanogo, I don’t think Badji would step in and instantly log minutes for the purple and gold because he's still super raw, but he could be a monster down the road.
Badji was once viewed as potentially the next great African NBA prospect. In 2017-18, he joined NBA Academy Africa and eventually signed with FC Barcelona, where he averaged five blocks per game for their U18 team. His development never really took off, and Badji was very limited outside of being an elite shot blocker, going undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Since then, he's bounced around the NBA and G League, including stints with the Portland Blazers and the Bucks' affiliate. He even appeared in 22 NBA games for Portland during the 2023-24 season. He plays with Shenzhen Leopards in the Chinese Basketball Association, where he’s been since last season. Over five games this season, he’s averaged 4.6 blocks in under 23 minutes per game.
Like Sanogo, he's under contract overseas, so signing him instead of Lovering wouldn't necessarily have been possible. However, he should’ve been on their radar.
At 7-foot-1 with a near 7-foot-6 wingspan, Badji has insane length and can cover a ton of ground as a rim protector. If a team ever took the time to develop him and add a little more to his offensive game, he’d be a monster backup big in the NBA.
For the Lakers, he’s not the ideal two-way contract player JJ Redick could look to for real minutes. Despite that, he would’ve been an extremely high-upside swing that could’ve paid off big time.
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