In an interview on SiriusXM radio over the weekend, Lakers head coach JJ Redick reiterated a desire to embrace the challenge of leading the purple and gold. He added a notable wrinkle in his comments, however, addressing what exactly the team needs next season.
Redick made his feelings about the roster known towards the end of this clip posted to X (formerly Twitter):
“You certainly have to look at what I think is actually a very good roster, a very balanced roster. We’d love—you know, we tried—but we’d love to, at some point, get another five man. A big, bruising five man. You look at the Western Conference right now, whether it’s Denver, Minnesota, OKC—what they added—certainly Memphis—they’re gonna be back in the hunt, they added Zach Edey…In certain matchups in the playoffs, you’re gonna need a lot of size.”
Redick echoed a sentiment that fans have been clamoring for in the past few seasons. Despite Anthony Davis’s dominance at center, he already proved how dangerous he can be at power forward. The Lakers used him at the four in the beginning of his tenure, but went away from that only one season after their 2020 title run.
Putting AD in the middle has come with mixed results. He still produced at a high level in 2022 and 2023, averaging 23.2 and 25.9 PPG, respectively. However, that also came with a slew of injuries that caused him to miss more than 20 games in both of those seasons (he played 40 in 2021-22 and 56 in 2022-23). This past year was his best since becoming LA’s full-time five man. In a career-best 76 games, Davis averaged 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. It was an All-Star caliber season marked by All-Defensive First Team and All-NBA Second Team selections, but he was not a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year—coming in fourth behind Heat center Bam Adebayo.
Since coming onboard, Redick has envisioned Davis to be an offensive hub, and it seems playing AD next to a strong, starting-caliber five is his way of maximizing his talents. He also brought up an excellent point about needing size in the playoffs, as their height disadvantage was a nail in the coffin during their playoff losses to Denver.
But, even with such a promising vision, the Lakers have not taken many steps towards improvement. As Redick mentioned, they already tried—and, frankly, failed miserably—to add any help so far this offseason. There may still be ways to get Redick the center he wants, but as this summer has shown, it won’t be easy.
The Lakers’ current big men besides Davis are Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes—two thinner centers who still brought doses of athleticism and defense to the table. LA’s hopes of replacing one or both of them this summer have not gone their way. Most bigs either re-signed with their current franchises or moved on to better contenders. The rest, as it stands right now, would not be worthy of starting next to Davis and LeBron James.
The latest rumors of a Wendell Carter Jr. pursuit are promising, though there hasn’t been much traction beyond the initial reports. Carter Jr. definitely fits the bill of what Redick is looking for. The 25-year-old Orlando big man stands at 6’10” with a 270-pound frame, and is coming off of a productive third year for a young team on the rise. In 55 games (48 starts), Carter averaged 11 points, nearly 7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.5 blocks on .525/.374/.694 splits. His roughly $12 million payday is a relatively easy match, but it boils down to Orlando’s asking price and willingness to trade him.
Some have speculated reacquiring Brook Lopez is the way to go, but he’s also 36 years old with a $23 million contract next season. Throwing Colin Castleton into a new role is another possibility—especially now with Redick’s focus on player development—though it’s too much pressure to put on a 24-year-old on a two-way contract. The Lakers also just signed former UCLA big Moses Brown to their Summer League roster. However, it’s too early to tell if he’ll even be invited to training camp. As such, Carter Jr. is LA’s best bet to improve the center spot this summer.
The clock is ticking for the Lakers to make any sort of player changes this summer. Redick’s public stance on adding an extra big man is laudable, but it will be up to Rob Pelinka and the Lakers brass to get such a trade or signing done.
