There was plenty to feel good about for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 127-105 blowout of the Golden State Warriors on opening night. LA's offense looked elite, newcomer Walker Kessler put up big numbers, and the crowd at Crypto.com Arena was in midseason form.
Not everything is perfect in Lakerland, though. Beyond an unfortunate injury to Jake LaRavia, the Lakers still have depth chart concerns, including a backup center problem. Kevon Looney received those backup minutes against Golden State, but he didn't look good at all.
Kevon Looney alone might not be able to shoulder the Lakers' backup center role
Yes, it was merely the first game of an 82-game season. But Looney looked concernedly slow and stuck to the ground against the Warriors (even for him). He was late to defensive rotations and also struggled to set screens with the sharpness that defined his years in Golden State. Looney's getting older, obviously. But at 30, he's not exactly over the hill. Is he just out of shape? Injured?
Whatever it is, it looks like Looney's going to need some runway in 2026-27 before he starts operating at full steam. In the meantime, Lakers head coach JJ Redick has the option to slide Sandro Mamukelashvili into a reserve center role some of the time and eat into Looney's minutes that way. And there's no reason that Redick shouldn't try this out.
Lakers should start experimenting more with Sandro Mamukelashvili at center
The knock against the 6-foot-9 Mamukelashvili as a five-man is that he's simply too small to contest shots from proper centers or compete above the rim for rebounds.
Those are valid concerns, but with the way Looney's looking right now, Mamu isn't any "smaller" or more below the rim as a rebounder/rim protector than Looney is. In fact, he's probably a better bet to bother shots and fight on the glass at the moment.
That's not to mention the fact that Mamu gives you much more offensively than Looney as a stretch big man who can space the floor for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Should Redick take away Looney's minutes completely and overload Mamukelashvili? Certainly not. That would be too drastic. But a slight adjustment to give Mamu more minutes and use Looney less is certainly something to think about. At least for now. Meanwhile, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka should be on the phones working to bring in another big soon, preferably someone who is 6-foot-10 or taller.
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