Los Angeles Lakers: Biggest storylines to watch after free agent frenzy

2. The Lakers’ situation at center

The biggest shock as to why the Los Angeles Lakers let Julius Randle walk is the fact that the team does not have the best outlook at center. Because of this, many expected the team to sign DeMarcus Cousins for the minimum, which he eventually did with the Golden State Warriors.

However, with the Lakers reportedly passing on a chance to sign Cousins to said minimum contract, the team’s plans at center remain unclear. While LA has three centers on the roster, none of the three are really starting center caliber and may force the Lakers to run a smaller starting five once the games really start to matter, something they would have had to do with Randle, anyway.

McGee, Zubac and Thomas Bryant are responsible for giving the team minutes at center and being productive glass cleaners alongside James and the rest of the unit. McGee is a good veteran back up but is not a quality starting center. He has not started 20 or more games in a season since the 2011-2012 season.

Zubac and Bryant definitely have promise but are not going to be huge difference makers when it comes to crunch time. Both are relatively unproven in the league and definitely should not be the second option at center on a contending team.

Nerlens Noel was the next best thing for the Lakers to pursue as he had been linked to the team for over a year. However, Noel agreed to a two-year minimum with the Thunder, something that would have been extremely helpful for LA.

Now, the plans really are unclear what the Lakers are going to do. The team wouldn’t pass on Cousins if they did not have a decent plan in place, so we will see.