JJ Redick Believes Dalton Knecht Is Ready NBA Role With Lakers https://t.co/YvHDEOIW3m via @lakersnation

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2024

“He’s ready to play in the NBA. He is still growing in terms of learning how to play with physicality, learning some defensive nuances and timing. But another kid who just, his heart and his intent is the same every day and it’s always in the right place. He didn’t shoot well, but what did he end up with, six offensive rebounds? He’s someone that you tell him to do something and he’s gonna do it. ‘Dalton, crash from the corner.’ You literally watch it on tape, he does it every time. And I thought the offensive rebounding for that group over the last quarter and change was really good.”

1 dream, 1 nightmare, and 1 realistic trade target for the Lakers https://t.co/fNB6xzTnG5

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2024

Lakers nightmare trade target: Zach LaVine
Lakers realistic trade target: Jerami Grant
Lakers dream trade target: Trae Young

Lakers Must Trade for Center to Help LeBron, Anthony Davis Win Titlehttps://t.co/TelVcNS4Fj via @BleacherReport

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 13, 2024

The Los Angeles Lakers need depth at center and according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the team is exploring options to add a big man to the roster.

It must or risk wasting the final years of LeBron James’ career and Anthony Davis’ prime.

Christian Wood is still recovering from knee surgery while Christian Koloko is still waiting to be cleared for action after experiencing blood clots in his lungs. That leaves Jaxson Hayes as the primary backup to Anthony Davis, who had previously expressed his desire not to play the five position.

There are options for the team to consider.

Atlanta’s Clint Capela has an expiring $22 million deal that would immediately improve the Lakers’ roster and further establish them as a legitimate threat out west, but the team would have to be willing to trade a valued player for him as the Hawks are not likely to sit back and accept nothing of substance in return.

Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, and/or Jarred Vanderbilt would almost have to be involved in whatever deal the team would put together, and even then, dealing Vanderbilt to another team undermines the intent to get stronger at center.

That there would be no commitment beyond 2024 is equally as concerning given what the team would give up to acquire Capela, who averaged 25.8 minutes, 11.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists last season.

The Utah Jazz’s characteristically enormous trade demand for Walker Kessler (two first-rounders per Marc Stein) means the talented young center is unlikely to be a realistic option for the Lakers, even if he fits the team and could make for a potent one-two punch with Davis.

The best option for the team might be Robert Williams III, a defensive-minded center from the Portland Trailblazers. While he has a history of injuries and has played in more than 50 games only twice in his career, he can be acquired relatively easily from a team brimming with centers and at a reasonable cap hit of just under $12.5 million in 2024-25.

If the intent is to keep Davis at the center position and use Vanderbilt once he is back at the beginning of the season, acquiring Williams for depth carries much less risk than if the team needed him to step in and play significant minutes every game.

Williams is a career 72.9 percent shooter from the paint, with 4.3 defensive rebounds, 2.6 offensive rebounds, and 1.7 blocks. His stats will not jump off the page at anyone, but he plays gritty defense and can provide the team a level of toughness at the rim that it could use as it looks to set a tone in a jam-packed Western Conference.

For a team that has championship aspirations under first-year coach JJ Redick, it cannot roll into another season in which James and Davis are healthy but a lack of depth behind them limits production and ultimately lands them in play-in games.

The front office must make a deal to secure quality at a needed position if the team will live up to expectations. Otherwise, the result is another lost year, something neither of the organization’s two biggest stars has many of left.

It will not be easy, especially given their abysmal cap situation, but some creative maneuvering by the front office should still be able to make something work with a trade here and some salary dumping there, to ensure the team maximizes its potential.

FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY

Legit one of the best days of my life. pic.twitter.com/wX4nGMlSOF

— Nicole Ganglani (@nicoleganglani) October 11, 2024

Could the #Lakers trade for a center before Opening Night?https://t.co/iAVKG7YqOz

— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) October 11, 2024

Arguably the biggest weakness on the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster going into the 2024-25 season is the center position.

They of course still have Anthony Davis, but the last two postseason losses to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets proved that isn’t enough in certain matchups.

The Lakers did not make any moves this offseason to address the center position as both Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood picked up their player options. They brought in Christian Koloko on a two-way contract, but he has still not been cleared by the league to play after dealing with a serious blood clot issue.

Wood is also dealing with a knee injury that will force him to miss the start of the season, leaving the Lakers short on depth in the frontcourt behind Davis and Hayes.

With that being the case, the Lakers have looked to the trade market for center upgrades and are continuing to do so leading up to Opening Night, per Shams Charania of ESPN:

“Sources tell me the Lakers have been exploring potentially adding a big man, a center to their roster. Not sure exactly when that will take place, but they have started looking into the market place. Christian Wood remains sidelined, he’s got a knee issue. He had surgery recently and so they’re waiting for him to get back. But Jaxson Hayes, in the interim, has really stepped up in training camp. He’s been a positive factor for the Lakers. But another thing to keep an eye on is Christian Koloko, they signed him to a two-way contract before training camp, he was expected to play a potential reserve role on this roster and our Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin and I have heard internally the Lakers doctors have felt confident that he will be cleared by the league’s fitness to play panel due to his blood clot issue, but that is still an ongoing process. The Lakers are still waiting for answers from the league, from the [Players Association] on his clearance, that’s going to be a major factor to keep an eye on because this was a guy in Koloko who was gonna play a potential role down the stretch of this Lakers season.”

The name the Lakers have been linked to the most is Jonas Valanciunas, who they had interest in signing in free agency before he landed with the Washington Wizards.

While the Wizards may be open to trading him, they cannot do so until Dec. 15 so the Lakers would have to wait a couple of months.

If they wanted to make a deal now or before the start of the season, some names to watch for could be Walker Kessler, Nikola Vucevic, Isaiah Jackson, Nick Richards and Day’Ron Sharpe. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka would likely need to include draft capital in any package for a solid big man though, which to this point he has been unwilling to do.

JJ Redick likes Anthony Davis at power forward for Lakers

Part of the reason the Lakers are looking for another center is because Anthony Davis likes playing power forward. Head coach JJ Redick also recently said he likes Davis at the forward spot and explained why.

“It’s definitely something we could use in our rotation,” Redick said. “What I really like is having AD at the four and him being able to be in that switching group while still having some size at the five with Jaxson. That part of it I like a lot.”

Who is 41? The winning way Quincy Olivari introduced himself to Lakers nation https://t.co/5vilsMVdvw

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 11, 2024

MILWAUKEE — All you can ask of someone like Lakers rookie Quincy Olivari is for him to be ready, for him to not run when the opportunity to do something great presents itself, for him to step into opportunity ready to capitalize.

That happened Thursday night in Milwaukee, as he ignited a 20-0 run to give the Lakers and JJ Redick their first preseason, but it wasn’t the first time. By the time the Lakers rolled in for their third game of the preseason, the undrafted, training camp signee had already established he wasn’t going to let a moment slip past him.

It’s why, briefly, he got a little internet famous on media day.

Before Olivari’s big fourth quarter Thursday when he scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and had two assists during a 9-minue, 24-second shift, he had already captured Lakers fans’ attention.

During Bronny James’ interview with ESPN, Olivari found himself standing next to LeBron James in the background of the shot. He grabbed his phone, handed it to a staffer and posed for the picture with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer — while people watching wondered who exactly was wearing that No. 41 Lakers jersey.

Olivari is, after all, with the Lakers on an “Exhibit 10” contract — a non-guaranteed training camp deal that can be converted to a standard minimum deal. The more likely outcome in these scenarios is that the player received a bonus should he remain with the organization’s G-League team for at least 60 days.

The clip of Bronny James going to be interviewed with James and Olivari in the background got shared to more than 43.8 million users on SportsCenter’s twitter account.

“Did 41 just ask LeBron for a selfie?” another wondered.

Olivari posted the photo with James on his Instagram page with the caption, “Who is #41.”

His friends made sure Olivari, who played four years at Rice before a fifth season at Xavier, saw all the jokes — his favorites being the ones that compared him a generic create-a-player in basketball video games.

“They started talking about oh that like that’s ‘My Player.’ … I was just crying laughing. And my…, he texted me and was like ‘You got to capitalize on his marketing.’ So I hadn’t got my media day pictures yet, but I got the picture with LeBron and I said, ‘I’m just gonna post it.’

“And I used the caption, ‘Who’s number 41?’ And that’s been my mantra.”

Lakers fans know a little bit more now.

He was a priority add for the team in undrafted free agency, with South Bay Lakers general manager Nick Mazzella calling Olivari after the first night of the draft to recruit him.

“It was a fairly easy decision to just go there because they, they wanted me, so that, that already told me off rip,” Olivari said.

The Lakers roster is currently full, including the team’s three two-way spots, though one of those can be freed up without causing any salary cap complications — the cleanest pathway for Olivari to earn a job with the organization outside of the G-League.

Thursday, Olivari’s spark in the team’s fourth-quarter comeback against the Bucks had the Lakers bench off their feet. He created turnovers with his full-court defense. He hit multiple three-point shots and attacked the rim despite his 6-foot-3 frame.

“He has an infectious spirit and soul about him,” Redick said. “It’s not that he’s some super talkative, boisterous guy. But he just carries himself well. He carries himself with intent. His work ethic is really high. And I think people respond to that.

“And when you have someone who cares, who is a good teammate, who does all the right things and then he comes in a game and is picking up full court with a bloody mouth and changing the entire dynamic for us as a team, it’s easy to respond to that as a teammate and as a coaching staff. And I thought he just lit a fire for us.”

His passion for basketball extended to the postgame, when in an on-court radio interview, Olivari failed to fully fight back tears.

“He takes the game very seriously,” Redick said. “He’s a player who, I talk about care factor, he’s a player who has a care factor for doing it the right way and wanting to execute whatever vision you give him. I’m excited that he’s in our program, I really am. We look at him as a coaching staff in very high regard.”

And so do his teammates.

Late Thursday night s the Lakers flew back to Los Angeles, it was LeBron James’ turn to add some fuel to the Olivari internet legend.

“Yeeeeaaaahhhhh Q!!,” he posted on Instagram. “They know who 41 is now.”

I am with you and the MRS LT! I think we both got lucky though, lol!

Lakers are interested in acquiring a big 👀

(via @ShamsCharania) pic.twitter.com/5W5ZTGlxZe

— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) October 10, 2024

Lebron and Savannah are goals fr 🥹 #starting5 pic.twitter.com/kHfqz8EwYB

— 𝚃𝚊𝚢 👩🏾‍💻 ᥫ᭡ (writing) (@tvwriteher) October 9, 2024

(@ShamsCharania on Coach Redick)#LakeShow

“The early sense is how detail oriented Redick is, the focus that he has, and how he lives, eats, and digests basketball on a daily basis. That is what everyone in Los Angeles says about JJ Redick.

I have one person with the Lakers… pic.twitter.com/jv7IZkUKqg

— 🎗NBA•Fan🎗 (@Klutch_23) October 10, 2024

After 15 NBA seasons, Danny Green says he is retiring. Green, who’s announcing the retirement on his podcast Thursday, is one of four players in NBA history to win championships with three different teams (2014 with Spurs, 2019 with Raptors, 2020 with Lakers). pic.twitter.com/d2mIOG62lh

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 10, 2024