The Los Angeles Lakers’ season came to an end earlier this month at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.
After winning 50 games in the regular season, the team failed to do virtually anything in the postseason.
Blake Griffin Gets Honest About the Lakers
Former multi-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin recently spoke about the current state of the Lakers and why they faltered, saying “Gone are the days of let’s just go get two big stars and we’ll just kind of sort of fill in the pieces and cover them.”
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Griffin went on to summarize the problem that Lakers head coach J.J. Redick ran into in the playoffs:”JJ (Redick) was thinking, how are you going to play some of those lineups together?…you still have to build for the playoffs.”
It is safe to say that although the Lakers had plenty of perimeter talent, they failed to combat their lack-of-a-big-man problem.
Without a consistent big man in the middle of the paint, they couldn’t contain Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.
Can the Lakers Go Get a Big Man in Free Agency?
While the Lakers gained one of the greatest players in the world in Luka Dončić, they had to part ways with future Hall of Fame center Anthony Davis as part of that trade.
That ended up costing them in the long run.
Now, they have to find a way to add another big man in free agency, especially after seeing that the combination of LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Jaxson Hayes wasn’t good enough to stop the Timberwolves.
There are going to be plenty of centers available on the free-agent market this summer.
Former All-Star center and NBA champion Brook Lopez will be on the market.
Shot-blocker Clint Capela could be looking for a new home after spending the last few years with the Atlanta Hawks.
While he is 38 years of age and easily on the back nine of his career, five-time All-Star and NBA champion Al Horford is slated to hit the open market.
Even longtime Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner could be looking for a new team this summer.
The Lakers will certainly have an opportunity to address their big-man need this summer, and they have to make sure that they add the right player, especially because their title window might be closing with LeBron James turning 41 years of age this December.