The Los Angeles Lakers have been on the search for center depth virtually all season. Head coach JJ Redick, at times, has had only Anthony Davis and two-way center Christian Koloko to turn to, leading the team to play mostly small-ball. But they are seeking to change that formula, getting Jaxson Hayes back and healthy and signing big man Trey Jemison III to a two-way deal.
Jemison joins his fourth NBA team in two seasons. He’s spent time with the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans and now could see real time with the Lakers. Hayes, Koloko and Davis — while including an All-NBA caliber player — is not elite center depth by any means.
And that’s exactly what Redick was looking to do by adding Jemison into the mix. He spoke about what Jemison can bring to the Lakers as a player and in doing so revealed that he plans to play some two-big lineups moving forward.
“I think, first of all, a big body,” Redick said. “And plays extremely hard. With Christian and what we’ve asked of him, some because of Jaxson’s injury, but we have to sort of manage his days. And Trey gives us another body, another physical player. We kind of went away from those two-big lineups. It’s something we did last night. It’s something we’re gonna try to get back to for small stretches of games.
“It doesn’t mean we won’t play small ever. But that’s something that when we can get some practice time, we can really work on those small-ball looks. So for Trey, I think he’s gonna have an opportunity at times to be out there with AD. He’s gonna have an opportunity, at times, to play solo big, depending on who’s available. Obviously, Jaxson’s our backup center. Not saying he’s gonna play over Jaxson. But getting him in the program was important for us. We obviously did intel on him. He’s high character, high energy, smart player, too. High-basketball IQ. Super humble. We’re excited to have him.”
Redick previously went away from two-big lineups but now says the impetus to make the change back to it is recent struggles on the defensive end for the Lakers.
“Just the defense trending in the wrong direction. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. If it is broke, let’s try to fix it type thing. Just more size. More rebounding. Again, teams are trying to get AD away from the basket. Well, maybe we can mix it up a little bit and have some more size out there for stretches of the game.”
Given that the three options for a two-big lineup are Hayes, Koloko and Jemison, it’s unlikely that Redick would use this as a major part of the Lakers game plan. However, in small doses, it might be nice to give Davis a spell at the power forward and see what the Lakers can do if they overwhelm teams with size and length.
Anthony Davis responded well to challenge from JJ Redick
After losing three in a row and prior to the team’s game against the Miami Heat, JJ Redick challenged his whole team — but specifically Anthony Davis — to take on more leadership roles in whatever way made the most sense for them.
Davis responded to the challenge well against the Heat, leading by example by diving on loose balls and winning the hustle battle in the second half.
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