The Los Angeles Lakers need a center. The NBA Draft Lottery may have just delivered one to them.
Deandre Ayton has been fine this season for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is no one’s idea of a long-term option in the middle. While he has had some big moments here and there this season, most of the time he has proven himself inadequate to the task of being the starting center for a good Lakers team.
Moving on from Ayton this summer, or at least upgrading above him, seems like a no-brainer. But which players will be on the open market for the Lakers to pursue, either in free agency or via trade?
The answer is now Isaiah Hartenstein, as the Oklahoma City Thunder are in position to draft his replacement.
The Lakers could sign Isaiah Hartenstein
The Lakers have had a front row seat to how dominant Hartenstein can be in the middle for the Thunder, as he has beat them up through three games of their second-round playoff series. He has only missed two shots in three games and is playing spectacular defense.
Los Angeles would love to have him, but the Thunder have to give him up first. He has started the last two seasons for OKC and they are on track to win a second consecutive championship. Why, exactly, would they let him leave?
The answer is money, and the penalties that come with being too expensive. The modern NBA punishes teams whose payroll gets too high, invoking penalties for teams that cross certain thresholds known as tax aprons. As new extensions kick in for the team's stars, they are going to get very expensive, and quickly.
Hartenstein could be cut loose
Hartenstein is entering the third and final year of his deal, and that year is a team option, allowing the Thunder to decline the option and get out of his money for next season. That would give them the financial breathing room to keep the team together, but it would obviously come at a cost.
If the Thunder had moved up in the Draft Lottery, armed with a pick they received from the Los Angeles Clippers from the Paul George trade, they would have added a future star either in the backcourt or at the forward position. Perhaps that would have made Ajay Mitchell or even Lu Dort expendable. There is no center projected in that range.
The Thunder stayed put at No. 12, however, and in that part of the draft, there should be multiple center options available. Whether it's Aday Mara or Hannes Steinbach, the Thunder will have a great chance to walk away with their center of the future.
The Lakers are back in business
That puts the Lakers in business for Hartenstein. Perhaps they trade for him, but more likely they can sign him in free agency at a lower number than the $28.5 million he is in line to make next season.
Hartenstein is a bruiser who could set bone-crushing screens for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, rumbling to the rim to catch lobs and perform Gortat screens. He is a monster on the offensive glass and would gain multiple fresh possessions for the Lakers. His defense is solid and he protects the rim quite well.
Landing Hartenstein would be a free agency coup, and it may be possible all because the Thunder failed to move up in the Draft Lottery. That set off a domino effect that could very reasonably end in Isaiah Hartenstein starting for the Lakers next season.
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