Anthony Davis update holds Rob Pelinka's feet to the fire as 2024-25 season nears

As LeBron James prepares for his age-40 season, Anthony Davis has become the new focal point of the Los Angeles Lakers. Already a surefire Hall of Famer, the 31-year-old Davis will be at the heart of how the Lakers play on the court and build their roster behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, the Lakers have thus far failed to honor the request that Davis made roughly one year ago—and continues to push for.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported in September of 2023 that Davis informed the Lakers that he would like to play more minutes alongside a true center. It's been a key talking point for the past year, primarily due to the fact that his request has not yet been met with action.

Roughly a year later, McMenamin has released a new report—and the tone of it remains hauntingly similar to the request that was all but disregarded a year ago.

"One thing Davis has made clear to the Lakers, sources told ESPN, is his preference to play alongside another big more often."

Almost a year to the day of McMenamin's initial report, Davis' request remains unanswered and the Lakers' path to resolving the issue is as unclear as ever before.

Anthony Davis wants Lakers to add a center—a year after initial request

A report surfaced in June via Ian Begley of SNY that the Lakers are monitoring their options at center. After a silent period of free agency, however, the void remains at the 5-spot, sans the returning Colin Castleton and Jaxson Hayes—neither of whom saw consistent NBA minutes in 2023-24.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick has since openly addressed his hope that the team will add a big, bruising center before the 2024-25 season, but Pelinka hasn't yet delivered a resolution.

Christian Wood represents an option for Los Angeles at center, but he recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and played just three percent of his minutes at the 5 in 2023-24. It's also fair to question if Wood is the type of player who can simplify the game for Davis on defense.

Wood is incredibly productive when healthy—22.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 2.0 three-point field goals made per 36 minutes between 2018-19 and 2022-23—but Davis seems to want a more traditional big next to him.

The reason for this appears to be rooted in the championship success the Lakers experienced in 2019-20. Davis played 60 percent of his minutes at power forward that season, with rim protectors Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee operating alongside him.

The 2023-24 season likely strengthened his resolve in this desire for help along the interior, as Davis was the Lakers' first and last line of defense throughout the campaign.

Davis ranked in the top 15 in the NBA in three-point field goals contested, as well as No. 1 among centers. He was also the Lakers' primary, if not sole, rim protector, which caused him to have to cover more ground than just about any other center in the NBA.

Davis continues to hold out hope that the Lakers will make his job easier, but as the 2024-25 regular season nears, the path toward doing so has become significantly more difficult to navigate.