The Los Angeles Lakers must accept the need to sign a veteran for depth, even if it's an imperfect fit. 2024-25 tells the story of why.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in the market for a starting-caliber center who can elevate the team to true contender status. It's one of the worst-kept secrets in the NBA, as Los Angeles' glaring void at the position and past trade activity have created the inevitable expectation for a marquee move.
The Lakers would be wise to make that their top priority, but they must simultaneously embrace the need for reliable depth along the way—even if that means signing an imperfect veteran.
Los Angeles navigated the 2024-25 regular season with an unavoidable flaw hanging over its head. All-NBA center Anthony Davis masked the issue for most of the season, but when he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic, it became impossible to ignore.
The Lakers' depth at center was created by an unproven talent playing on a minimum salary and a consistent dependence on the franchise's G League affiliate.
Jaxson Hayes did an admirable job during the regular season, but ultimately averaged a mere 7.8 minutes per game during the playoffs. The G League players whom Los Angeles relied on, Trey Jemison III and Christian Koloko, didn't play a single postseason minute.
Rather than backing itself into another corner by attempting to acquire a starting center without an ideal reserve, the Lakers must be proactive in their efforts to create adequate depth.
Lakers must be willing to sign an imperfect veteran for interior depth
Obvious context includes the fact that Los Angeles attempted to replace Davis with Mark Williams before a failed physical resulted in the trade being cancelled. It then signed Alex Len for veteran depth, although he played a mere 2.0 minutes per game during the playoffs.
Maxi Kleber, who was acquired in the Doncic trade, made his 2024-25 debut during the playoffs—but played just five minutes during that time.
As such, the harsh reality facing the Lakers is that, even if they were to trade for or sign a dream target at center, their backup would likely be a minimum-level or even G League talent. Perhaps Kleber can play upward of 60 games for the first time since 2019-20, but Los Angeles would be wise to make peace with its current predicament instead of placing its faith in the unlikely to transpire.
The best way to do that would be to sign one of the better veterans on the open market while continuing to pursue a trade that would fill the starting void.
Perhaps a Steven Adams, Clint Capela, or Brook Lopez wouldn't move the needle in the way that some fans were hoping for. The alternative, however, is going through another season in which every path to improvement runs through the trade market and the G League.
The available free agents may not blow Lakers fans away, but they'd certainly be upgrades over the unproven group the team forced itself to rely on in 2024-25.
Even if the aforementioned veterans wouldn't be a perfect fit, they'd at least provide head coach JJ Redick with a safety net at a position of unavoidable weakness. Their experience could be leaned on for poise and depth, much as their defensive acumen could at least address a flaw on one end of the floor.
It may not be the perfect solution that fans are dreaming of, but the Lakers must ensure that their depth is superior to the G League rotation of centers they rolled out in 2024-25.
