The strongest conclusion to take away from the Lakers’ abbreviated playoff run was how badly the team needs a playable center. By not having a big who could stay on the floor, the Lakers were forced into small ball lineups that wore down pretty quickly.
That will be priority No. 1, bolded, underlined and circled on the Lakers whiteboard for the offseason. However, it won’t be the only upgrade the Lakers are looking to make.
Perhaps lost in the background of the Wolves series was the lack of defense and athleticism the Lakers had on the wing. It was perhaps shown most in how much success Jalen McDaniels had throughout the series.
In his exit interview with the media, President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka spoke about that being a need for the team to address this offseason.
“I think just in terms of solidifying our defensive core on the wing and just making sure we have players that can defend the wing position,” Pelinka said. “That’s an essential need. We see it playing out in the playoffs. Any time you can upgrade your defensive core on the perimeter, I think that’s going to help.”
It’s going to be tricky for the Lakers to address their multiple needs this offseason due to their financial limitations. Barring a drastic change to the roster, they’ll only have minimum contracts and the taxpayer mid-level exception to use on free agents.
They do, however, have a host of tradable contracts. It’ll take a fair amount of wheeling and dealing for the Lakers to improve their roster. There is also the fact that every team is looking for strong defensive wings, too. Competition is fierce for those types of players.
But if the Lakers are serious about building a contender around Luka — and all signs so far appear that is the case — then Pelinka and the front office will need to find a solution to their smaller, but still impactful problem with their roster.
