Lakers News: Insider Reveals Free Agent Center Who Could Fit Best With LA

Will he agree to a below-market deal for a contender?

As attentive Los Angeles Lakers fans who can count may be aware, LA has two more open spots on its standard 15-man roster. Team president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka is said to be on the hunt for an additional reserve center addition to help back up Anthony Davis, having already added former lottery pick Jaxson Hayes to the proceedings as one backup five option.

Beyond ex-Lakers Wenyen Gabriel and Tristan Thompson (both unrestricted free agents), Christian Wood, Bismack Biyombo and Dewayne Dedmon appear to be the best fits for the club, although they all could abet Los Angeles in different ways.

Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times believes that sharpshooting Wood, most recently with the Dallas Mavericks, is the most ideal big man available for the Lakers. The 6'10" vet, still just 27, is a terrific shooter and scorer, but a lackluster defender who burns through locker rooms in a hurry. 

That could and a general deficit of cap space around the league at this point in free agency could adversely impact his price tag, but would he really be amenable to accepting a veteran's minimum contract, currently the most LA could offer, when a few other clubs could conceivably tender more?

“We don’t want to sign someone who replicates the skills that Jaxson Hayes has,” Pelinka said. “So if we can diversify the big position and have different looks, that would be good.”

Hayes is a rim-rolling big man with defensive upside around the bucket, while Wood would help spread the floor for the club. Theoretically, either could be used to help preserve Davis in a given game, depending on the nature of the opposition.

What Los Angeles might lack in available salary, it can more than make up for in exposure. Wood could theoretically bet on himself with the Lakers -- taking a one-year minimum deal with one of the final four teams in the 2023 playoffs, a club that gets more national games than most even when it isn't particularly good (although, again, this year it probably will be) -- could make sense as a short-term play.

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