The Los Angeles Lakers’ plans at starting center were drastically altered over the weekend when it was announced that the trade for Mark Williams of the Charlotte Hornets was being rescinded due to a failed physical. Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish returned to L.A. and their only center options now are Jaxson Hayes, the injured Christian Wood and two-way bigs Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III.
Clearly, whatever the Lakers found in their evaluation of Williams made them feel weary about him being the starting center of the future. Because of that, the depth at the position for the rest of this season looks bleak, and the options for a replacement are slim league-wide.
The Lakers still owe it to their new superstar duo of LeBron James and Luka Doncic to find some kind of depth option at center though. But L.A. is currently at 15 roster spots and only $1.6 million below the second apron hard cap. So if they do find a center to add, they’ll have to waive someone.
There are two main candidates for L.A. if they opt to go that route, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
The Lakers can still waive someone — Wood or Reddish would be the top candidates, team sources said — to create a roster vacancy to bring in another center. L.A. still has enough room under the second apron to sign a buyout player, someone making less than $12.8 million with his previous team, for the rest of the season. “We will find another center path,” a team source said. “The path is always there. We just got to put in the work to find it.”
As laid out above, the Lakers can waive someone and sign another center, provided that center was previously making under the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $12.8 million. That is because they are over the first apron and that is one of the main new restrictions in the CBA.
Cam Reddish being one of the waiver candidates makes sense considering the team has already traded him. And Christian Wood being the other candidate shows that he is nowhere close to a return to play, as he could have been the other depth option at center.
The Lakers may want to watch the first two games with Doncic in the mix before the All-Star break, then use that time to figure out their next step at center this season.
Jordan Goodwin knows Lakers brought him in for defense
The past few days have been a whirlwind for Lakers two-way guard Jordan Goodwin, who recently signed on Friday. He then found himself on the floor on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers due to Luka Doncic and LeBron James being sidelined.
It is not easy feat to be thrown into the fire, especially trying to learn how his teammates play with no practice time. All things considered, Goodwin held his own and ultimately was on the floor during the fourth quarter to get a win.
After trading Max Christie, the Lakers took a hit to their guard rotation and the new two-way guard had to step up. With that, he acknowledged that his defensive skillset is why he was brought to L.A.
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