After a first round exit in the playoffs, Rob Pelinka will do everything he can to add a center to the Lakers.
All season long, it was clear the Lakers needed a center. In the middle of the year, Anthony Davis asked for one, and after he was traded for Luka Dončić, that made L.A.’s depth at the five even worse.
Miraculously, JJ Redick managed to maximize Jaxson Hayes during the regular season and played many small-ball lineups, getting the Lakers to 50 wins and the third seed in the Western Conference.
However, the chickens finally came to roost for the Lakers during the playoffs.
Hayes was ineffective against the size the Wolves had with players like Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle and Minnesota easily defeated Los Angeles in five games.
During Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka’s exit interview, he bluntly stated L.A.’s size issue as something he will resolve this summer.
“It’s very clear, and it was clear then and we spoke to it, that this team and this roster needs more size and needs a center position,” Pelinka said. “That’s a very clear and obvious byproduct of trading potentially the best big in the league to Dallas to get a point guard. Of course that’s going to open up a huge hole.
“As I said before, the trade deadline and the moments up to it don’t allow you the requisite time to explore every single unturned stone to add a big to our roster. We just didn’t have the time after the Luka trade but now we do.
“That’s the good news. Clearly, we’ll be very diligent, we’ll be very detailed, we’ll work hard. You’ve got the NBA Combine coming up here in a couple weeks in Chicago.
“That’s when a lot of the executives get together and start talks about offseason planning and roster construction. The one thing we know about the NBA is there’s always new and unexpected opportunities around the corner. That’s just the nature of this business. My focus is going ot be on that and making sure next year we have the requisite size to have a team that can compete for a championship.”
The Lakers tried to address this center issue by trading for Mark Williams, but the deal was rescinded when he failed his physical.
Los Angeles had to continue the rest of the way with only Hayes, Alex Len and two-way players Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III as their center options.
In hindsight, the Lakers shouldn’t have entered this year so thin at the five spot and when Davis left, it made a bad situation worse. Well, that’s water under the bridge, and now the focus is on ensuring the Lakers don’t end up in that situation again entering the 2025-26 season.
During Luka’s introductory press conference, Pelinka mentioned wanting a vertical lob threat at the five to pair with Dončić. As we enter the offseason, that vision remains the same, but other options are also possible.
“In terms of center trades, it would be great to have a center that’s a vertical threat, a lob threat, and someone that can protect the interior defensively,” Pelinka said. “I think those would be keys. But there’s multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”
If you can play center a little, the Lakers need you a lot. Pelinka needs to find a big via a trade, the draft, or in free agency.
The pitch to be a Laker has never been better. A center can enter as the missing piece with a shot at winning a title in Los Angeles, playing alongside Luka and LeBron James.
Pelinka has helped bring the Lakers back to relevancy so far, but the job is not finished. He needs to add a big so this team can become a legit title contender.
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