On Friday night in Minnesota, especially during a fateful stretch run to close the game, the Lakers looked a bit exposed. They’d been able to cruise through the second half of the regular season despite a decided lack of size following the trade that brought in star guard Luka Doncic for big man Anthony Davis. But in three playoff games against Minnesota, the Lakers’ lack of size was apparent.
The Timberwolves have made an average of 17.7 shots within five feet of the rim, according to NBA.com stats, which is the second-most in the playoffs. They’ve also made 4.0 corner 3-pointers per game, third-most in the playoffs.
Coach JJ Redick was asked about the Lakers’ defensive difficulty in the series, and he pointed the finger at a problem that was glaringly obvious from the time the Doncic trade was made: The Lakers are badly lacking size and rim protection.
Center Jaxson Hayes has filled the role in the middle for the Lakers, but he is not a shot-blocker and has been run off the floor against Minnesota, playing only 26 minutes in three games.
Said Redick: “The fact is, we don’t have, quote-unquote, rim protection. So if we give up blow-bys, we’re going to give up something—we’re going to give up a 3 or we’re gonna give up a shot from him at the rim.”
And that’s brought the Lakers faithful back to the decisions made by Lakers GM Rob Pelinka in the days after the Doncic trade. He acknowledged the Lakers needed a shot-blocking center when he put into place a trade that would have brought center Mark Williams to L.A.
But the Lakers rescinded that trade (after the NBA trade deadline passed), claiming Williams was injured. WIlliams did struggle to stay on the floor in the second half of the season, missing nine of 30 games, but averaged 14.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks when he was healthy.
Now, with the Lakers struggling and Redick airing his rim-protection grievance, that failed deal, and Pelinka’s failure to find a Plan B, is resurfacing among frustrated Lakers backers.
One Lakers fan wrote on Twitter/X: “Exactly why Pelinka bum ass should not be off the hook. Had all season to add a center before the deadline.”
Another noted, “Pelinka really rescinded that trade because he got scared over some made up injury that we still know nothing about or what it even was in the first place, what a (expletive) loser.”
“Rob Pelinka backed out of the Mark Williams trade and now our coach is saying things like this,” added another.
One fan pointed out that Dalton Knecht, who was to be part of the Willimas trade, is not contributing, either: “Passing on Mark Williams to not play Dalton in the playoffs better lead to him being flipped for a stud this summer man. Luka being handed to Rob shouldn’t let him off the hook this summer.”
