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Los Angeles Lakers: Recent history of centers has been woeful

By Jason Reed

EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 13: Anthony Davis poses with his jersey as he is introduced as the newest player of the Los Angeles Lakers during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center on July 13, 2019 in El Segundo, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 13: Anthony Davis poses with his jersey as he is introduced as the newest player of the Los Angeles Lakers during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center on July 13, 2019 in El Segundo, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Not only do the Los Angeles Lakers look stacked heading into next season but the team has (hopefully) gotten rid of the center position woes.

The Los Angeles Lakers have gone from a franchise that has missed the NBA Playoffs in six consecutive seasons to a team that is one of the bonafide favorites to win it all in 2019.

LeBron James is still front and center on the Lakers but joining him is now Anthony Davis. Davis has stepped in as the second superstar running mate that Laker fans have been promised for two years while the team has also built a deep roster around the stars.

Kyle Kuzma was kept out of trade talks and is a nice third-best guy; that is unless DeMarcus Cousins plays even just 80 percent of what he is capable of to become the Lakers’ third star.

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Between James, Davis, Kuzma and Cousins, the Lakers’ frontcourt is pretty stacked. At center, in particular, the Lakers have JaVale McGee to backup Cousins and will likely give Davis some minutes at center as well.

This has been a refreshing offseason when it comes to centers for the Los Angeles Lakers, especially considering that the team has had a woeful track record when it comes to big men over the last several years.

It has never been that the Lakers can’t find quality big men. In fact, it has been quite the opposite as the team has seemingly messed up every quality big man that they have landed.

It goes back to Timofey Mozgov, who Mitch Kupchak regretfully gave a terrible four-year, $64 million contract to. Mozgov was nowhere close to what the Lakers paid for and was the start of the bad luck at center.

It was not a case of not being able to hold onto Mozgov as the team actively wanted to get rid of him. Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka wanted to shed his contract so bad in fact that they were willing to trade young star D’Angelo Russell for some cap relief in an expiring Brook Lopez contract and a draft pick.

Lopez was never utilized properly in Los Angeles and that was obvious with how good he was with the Milwaukee Bucks last season. It was not like he left LA for a big payday, either, as he signed just a one-year, $5 million contract with the Bucks.

Ironically, Lopez was exactly what the Lakers needed last year but for the Bucks.

That same offseason the team also let Julius Randle sign with the New Orleans Pelicans. Randle and the Pelicans agreed to a two-year, $18 million contract with a player option after year one.

That was a bargain for someone of Randle’s caliber but the team wanted to maintain the cap flexibility, even though Randle ended up opting out after one year and even if he didn’t the team could have easily traded him.

It wouldn’t be a truly regretful offseason if it was not a trifecta and that it was for the Lakers. The team waived promising G League standout Thomas Bryant, letting him sign with any team he chose.

At that time we even covered how that could be a mistake for the Lakers and Byrant ended up being a contributor on the Wizards in 2019. Bryant averaged 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while providing good defense and shooting 61.6 percent from the field.

He ended up getting overpaid this summer but the Lakers had team control on Bryant and let him go for nothing.

The replacement they signed in JaVale McGee actually ended up being a good signing and its even better that the team re-signed him. However, the primary center for the Lakers in 2019 was Ivica Zubac, who really put together some great performances and saw his stock exponentially rise as a result.

So what did the Lakers do? They traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers for Mike Muscala. Yes, the same Mike Muscala who averaged just 5.9 points per game with the team last year.

Granted, the Lakers probably had no intention of re-signing Zubac, who was bound to be a restricted free agent. But c’mon, the team could have at least leveraged Zubac for a second-round pick.

This summer was different and was better for the Los Angeles Lakers, as the team didn’t give up anyone at the position — albeit they had nobody to give.

Next. Role players that will be massive hits or big misses. dark

And at the end of the day, the team certainly got better at the position. Perhaps all of the big man woes were leading to this, the pot of gold at the end of a confusing, head-scratching rainbow.

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