While no NBA team—and certainly not one with a legacy as rich as the Los Angeles Lakers’—hangs a banner for a 2-1 start, the Purple and Gold should be generally pleased with how they’ve opened the new campaign.
They’ve played all three games without LeBron James, played their last one (a win) without Luka Dončić and their offense is still obliterating everything in its path. The defense could be stingier, sure, but L.A. should have anticipated (and likely did) some issues on the game’s less glamorous end based on its personnel.
All of that said, life isn’t entirely divine in the City of Angels. Newcomer Deandre Ayton hasn’t exactly filled this team’s hole on the interior. He’s been…fine, but the Lakers should (and do) want more out of their 5 spot, particularly given the caliber of playmakers around it. They also have designs of shoring up the middle, although their sights are set a little too far down the road.
“From Walker Kessler to Jalen Duren to every other center that’s going to hit the open market next year, the fact that the Lakers are set to have cap space, agents and rival teams are looking at the Lakers as not having found their center of the future,” insider Jake Fischer reported on a Bleacher Report live stream.
If L.A. is unconvinced that Ayton can be a difference-maker in the middle, then it doesn’t need to wait so long to find his replacement.
Not when LeBron James is nearing his 41st birthday, Dončić is reaping the rewards of his offseason commitment to conditioning (he’s sidelined right now but looked awesome before going down) and Austin Reaves is hinting at another big step forward.
This trio looks like it could be the backbone of a top-shelf contender. It just needs more from the supporting cast around it, starting with this problematic center position.
Ayton is less than a dream partner for Dončić, and it will be the same story whenever James is ready to return. They’d thrive with an athletic, explosive center who sets hard screens and steamrolls to the basket. Ayton is more comfortable either slipping screens or popping out for midrange jumpers.
He puts up numbers, but he doesn’t always make his presence felt. In fact, his teams have fared a touch worse (minus-0.3 points per 100 possessions, per Basketball-Reference) with him than without over the course of his career.
The Lakers don’t need an elite center, but they have to find a post player who consistently makes his presence felt. Ayton just isn’t that type. He’s usually the type to surprise you with his stats when you look back after the game, because you so rarely noticed him during it.
The hoops world seems to think L.A. either knows this already or will come to that realization next summer. The question, though, is why wait? Why not get aggressive on the trade market now and see what can happen this season?
Remember, the Lakers aren’t guaranteed another go-round with James. And with Reaves’ price tag set to spike in free agency next summer, it’s probably too soon to pencil him into the long-term plans, too. (Or they can’t do it in permanent marker, at least.)
This season appears, from all angles, like a go-for-it kind of year for L.A. Because even though the Lakers have settled Dončić’s future, they can’t possibly know what kind of roster they’ll be able to build around them.
What if this is as good as his supporting cast gets? That’s how L.A. should approach things. It’s not just about the dangers of taking things for granted, it’s also acknowledging the fact that Dončić is ready to lead a contending roster right now.
The Lakers just need to give him one, then. And that starts by chasing an impact center now and not daydreaming about the ones who might become available next summer.