Los Angeles Lakers
Despite all the false bravado, the Los Angeles Lakers are in worse shape in the front court than ever before. Not only that, but they are solid in the back court heading into a draft with strong back court players. How can I say that? Simply stated, it’s gotten so bad that the Buss family nearly had a civil war over the future of the team. In the end, Jeanie Buss wrested control from brother Jim, and placed Magic Johnson at the the helm. The aftershocks are still being felt.
Lakers assistant GM Glenn Carraro has resigned, league sources tell @TheVertical. Carraro had been with franchise since 2000.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 6, 2017
Finally, the Lakers have dodged surrendering their first round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for two years running. Now, the Lakers have less than even odds of retaining their top six pick. Should that happen, they will be picking at 28th.
Riggo's Rag
Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes
The Lakers spent a ton of money on free agent center Timofey Mozgov and small forward Luol Deng. Two years later, the team is still trying to repair the front court, now shackled with a huge anchor of salary dollars. That means any solution to the center position must be inexpensive.
Center Jahlil Okafor is inexpensive. On the Lakers roster, he immediately aligns with such core players as D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson. If the team does not wish to impact future drafts, they could swap Brandon Ingram for Okafor.
Is it too steep a price? Perhaps. But until the Lakers address the center position with a meaningful solution, they will struggle. And there is no avoiding the 2018 first round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers. No matter how the Lakers play it, the 76ers come out ahead.