Lakers News: LA Insider Explains Why Thomas Bryant Deserves Starting Center Spot

The Athletic's Jovan Buha believes that Thomas Bryant is the only logical starting center fit for the Lakers next season.

The Lakers front office made it a goal to add youth to the roster in free agency. LA only had the taxpayer mid-level exception and veteran minimum contracts at their disposal, but leveraged their limited resources to sign a quintet of players who are on the right side of the 30. One of those signings was center Thomas Bryant, who played his rookie year with the Lakers (2017-2018) before being waived by LA that summer.

Bryant, who's played in just 37 games the last two seasons due to injury, signed a one-year, $2.1M deal with the Lakers and should garner serious consideration to be head coach Darvin Ham's starting center.

In a recent article, The Athletic's Lakers beat writer Jovan Buha reasoned why Bryant should get the starting nod. Some of it is based on Bryant's ability to stretch the floor and his fit in Ham's offensive scheme, but more so, the hope that the 6'10" center can be a complimentary player to Anthony Davis in the Lakers frontcourt. 

"The Lakers need to maximize spacing for driving lanes for James and Westbrook, and for Davis to operate in the post and as a roller. Shooting, especially with the starting group, will be important. As a result, if the Lakers want Davis to remain at power forward, Bryant is the only realistic option to start alongside him."

Davis has stated time and time again that he prefers to play the four during the regular season, but the Lakers are at their best with the All-NBA big man at the five. Inevitably, AD will have to play some center during crunch time with Bryant on the bench when the Lakers deploy smaller lineups.

Buha pointed to Bryant's three-point shooting numbers as reasons to believe that although the center might be played less than 20 minutes per game, some of those minutes should be as a starter.

"Bryant shot 41.1 percent on two attempts per game from 2019 to 2021. That’s a small sample of seasons and low volume (46 of 112), but it at least indicates he has spacing potential. Damian Jones, who was better than Bryant last season, doesn’t offer the same long-range gravity, even if he’s more of a lob/vertical threat."

If Bryant can stay healthy, he could end up being the most impactful of all of the Lakers free agent signings.