The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t put up much of a fight in their first-round series, bowing out in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was a flawed roster after they made the already infamous trade for Luka Doncic, as they sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, leaving them without a viable center on the roster.
JJ Redick tried playing Jaxson Hayes when he could, but Hayes just isn’t good enough on both ends of the floor. Just a year ago, Doncic made it to the NBA Finals with the Mavs with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford as his cast of centers, both massive improvements over Hayes. And one NBA legend wants to see the Lakers make that kind of commitment to Doncic.
Kevin Garnett believed what the Mavs did the last few years before the trade was exactly what he needed, and now it’s time for the Lakers to do the same.
“I thought what Dallas did was perfect for him. They had him focused on scoring and they put dogs around him, they had threats, PJ Washington could hit a corner three. Go catch Lively for a dunk, he comes out, Gafford comes in. You feel me, that lob threat got them through two rounds.
“He was getting seven, eight dimes off the lob, the floater. Aesthetically JJ Redick wants it to look a certain way, I follow results, you got to start building towards Luka and what fits his needs.”
The Lakers had no lob threats other than LeBron James, who even at 40 years old is still an elite athlete. But they can’t rely on Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith to be centers moving forward.
Los Angeles tried to trade for Mark Williams at the trade deadline, but he failed his physical and walked back on the trade. They’ll have to find someone else in the meantime who can play that role with the limited assets they have.
