One of the unanswered questions from the offseason is why the Lakers dumped traditional centers Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, whose elite rim protection had anchored the team’s third ranked NBA defense.
There have been extensive conversations about every move Rob Pelinka and the Lakers made this offseason but not a single word about why the Lakers decided to change course and dump Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee. While the team formally expressed its appreciation to both players for their contributions to winning the championship, the Lakers had clearly made a decision not to bring back either of the two centers this offseason.
While ‘dump’ might seem too pejorative to describe what happened to Howard and McGee this offseason, ‘dump’ is exactly what the Lakers did to the two traditional centers who had anchored their defense all season long. They declined to offer a contract to Howard even after he embarrassingly accepted an offer they hadn’t made and then gave the Cavaliers one of their few remaining second round picks to get them to trade for McGee.
What’s surprising about the Lakers’ decision is McGee and Howard had started 70 of the team’s 71 regular season games and 18 of their 21 playoff games, leading to a 52–19 regular season record and 16–5 playoff record. Even more puzzling is the Lakers appear to short handed at center as they get ready to open the 2021 season with only 36-year old Marc Gasol and 26-year old Montrezl Harrell listed on their depth chart as centers.
So what’s the story? Why did the Lakers dump Howard and McGee? Why did Frank Vogel suddenly sour on a center tandem who had done a good job all season long protecting the rim and anchoring the Lakers’ defense?
Analyzing the center position for the Los Angeles Lakers always has to begin with Anthony Davis, who said from the start of his career with the Lakers he preferred to play power forward rather than center most of the time.
While he’s not going to start and often not even play half his time there, Davis is still going to play center to close games for the Lakers, which is why they only carried two centers last season and only need two this season. There was speculation after signing Clippers’ backup center Montrezl Harrell that he’d play the four because of his subpar defense and inability to protect the rim but it’s obvious now the Lakers view him primarily as a five.
With Anthony Davis, Markieff Morris, and Jared Dudley at the four, there’s no question Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell will play the five and replace Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee as the Lakers two-man center tandem. While Harrell’s signing was controversial, the opportunity to sign him along with seeds of doubt planted in the playoffs regarding the value of Howard and McGee could have been what triggered the Lakers’ changes at center.
Trezz is a unicorn talent and his speed, quickness, and motor will be a nightmare matchup for most centers and playing him alongside Anthony Davis at power forward would enable the Lakers to protect him defensively. Pairing an attack dog offensive center like Harrell with an elite playmaking and stretch five center like Gasol dramatically transforms the Lakers’ center tandem offensively so they can afford to sacrifice a little defensively.
Meanwhile, Howard and McGee became increasingly unplayable during the playoffs. Their lack of scoring threat on offense allowed teams to pack the paint and their inability to defend in space became a liability on defense. The emergence of Markieff Morris in the playoffs convinced Frank Vogel that the ability to space the floor on offense and speed and quickness on defense were more important than pure size alone to protect the rim.
The Lakers clearly wanted to retain most of their championship team as 9 of the 14 players on this season’s roster are returnees from last season but the players they added are going to dramatically change how the team plays. Center is the position that will see the greatest change in style of play at both ends of the court for the Lakers as Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell replace traditional low post centers Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee.
Overall, the Lakers will be sacrifice size and rim protection on defense by losing Howard and McGee but should be able to more than make up for that with the elite offensive firepower Gasol and Harrell will be able to deliver. The additions of a playmaking modern stretch five like Marc Gasol and a high-energy aggressive low post scorer like Montrezl Harrell are going to transform the Lakers’ half court offense into an high-scoring juggernaut.
In the end, that’s why the Lakers dumped Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee. They saw an opportunity to significantly upgrade offensively with Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell that they just could not resist.
Rob Pelinka and Frank Vogel finally spoke out about the Lakers’ new center additions although they avoiding any commentary about why they dumped Dwight and JaVale.
The focus on Marc seemed to be on his ability to stretch the floor and pass whereas the focus on Trezz was about his motor and aggressiveness in attacking the rim.
The obvious conclusion is the Lakers became disenchanted with Dwight and JaVale and saw a great opportunity to upgrade and help their offense when Trezz became available and that pretty much triggered the decision to dump Howard and McGee.
Having filled one of the two center spots with Harrell, the Lakers then looked towards a stretch five in Ibaka and Gasol. Ibaka would have been a better rim protector while Gasol was the better playmaker.
One way or another, Lakers have moved on from the typical defensive oriented dinosaur shot blockers in favor of more offensive minded centers who can either spread the floor and make plays like Gasol or are big time low post scorers like Harrell.
Pelinka seized a great opportunity to sign Trezz which makes us younger, more energetic, more tenacity and it weakens the LAC. To get M. Gasol too, another
major upgrade who adds offensive flexibility as you say…. Incredible!!!
Dump is indeed a poor word choice. It completely neglects the fact that we traded McGee for two players, instantly waived one of those players (Jordan Bell) we brought back, and that Alfonzo is a decent backup at the 3. The McGee trade was made so they could upgrade two players (McGee and Howard) into one (Gasol) Dump would be a waive and stretch. Furthermore, it ignores the fact that we picked up Marc Gasol to replace him. Howard also was not dumped but rather chose to sign elsewhere when the opportunity presented itself.
Marc Gasol is as much a dinosaur shot blocker as he is anything else. He’s not as fast as either McGee or Howard (never was, frankly). The man hangs his hat on defense. Can he make the three pointer? Sure. Is that the weapon we will rely on? Nope. It doesn’t even mean he won’t sit some games in a 7 game series based on match ups. The playoffs are all about match ups, you yourself astutely pointed this out during the playoffs a couple months back.
Why you feel the need to denigrate and piss on the contributions of Howard and McGee is beyond me, man. I just don’t get it. They are both fine players who contributed both on and off the court to a banner on the wall. They deserve better than these words. Not, in my opinion, one of your better articles. Just this sites version of click-bait…
Jamie, we’ll have to A2D. Not looking to piss on JaVale or Dwight but it’s obvious the Lakers did not want them back.
I can understand why you might be offended by my use of the word ‘dump’ to describe what the Lakers did to Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee but I think it’s an accurate description of what ultimately happened with the two players. The Lakers basically did not want either player back this season.
You can spin the facts however you want to try and change reality but the truth is Dwight and JaVale were ‘dumped.’ The Lakers deliberately did not make an offer for Dwight to return and they had to pay the Cavs to get them to trade for JaVale. Any other explanation does not make sense.
The reason you dislike this article is probably because you’ve always been a proponent of old school defensive centers whose main contribution was limited to rim protection, rebounding, and attacking the rim with dunks. That was what Frank Vogel wanted from his centers last year and I think Dwight and JaVale did an admirable job providing that.
I respect them for helping us win the championship and even more for being great teammates when they became unplayable in the playoffs. They both were big parts of the championship chemistry that the Lakers developed. I think the Lakers treated them with respect and gratitude but that doesn’t change the reality that the team did not want them back.
I lobbied all season for the Lakers to replace Dwight and JaVale with modern centers who can stretch the floor, which is what they did with Marc Gasol. I’ve always believed the Lakers were handicapping themselves by limiting the center position to dinosaur centers who clogged the paint and couldn’t defend on the perimeter. But we’ve had this argument before and neither of us is going to change their minds now.
The big surprise to me is Montrezl Harrell, whom I did not have on my radar at all. In fact, he’s the last person I would have wanted the Lakers to sign. In retrospect, I think I was wrong because Trezz can wreak havoc with traditional low post centers with his speed, quickness, length, and motor. He’s totally an offense over defense move but a potential great one. He’s kind of like a mini version of Shaq in the post.
Anyway, I don’t mean to disrespect JaVale and Dwight and wish them well in their new homes but I am glad they’re gone even though there will surely be times we will miss them. I’m just thrilled we have moved on to a true modern center in Marc and a totally new type of center in Trezz. The change in the center position is going to transform the Lakers offensively.
FWIW, they were both pretty much trash other than the occasional meaningless regular season game here or there. When you’re literally unplayable at the most critical moments, really not a big loss. And with M. Gasol there to guard the product of his drunken bender in Solvenia some years back when they play the nuggs, I think they’ll be fine.
I also think you are underestimating Marc Gasol’s skill set. We’re talking about a former DPOY, a 39% 3-point shooter, and an elite passer with a high BBIQ. He may not be the shot blocker that Dwight or JaVale were, but he’s going to have a greater impact on winning than either of them did. He’s a significant upgrade.
Aloha Tom, I think Harrell will get some minutes at the 4 as well as the 5. McGee and Howard played around 35 mins a game combined. I can see Marc playing 22 to 25 minutes a game and AD playing about the same minutes at the 5 as last year. As for Howard I think they might have brought him back if he had waited a little longer. Both guys played their roll brilliantly last year.
Aloha, Michael. I’ve always believed the issue with the Lakers’ centers was more related to the role the team chose for the position than the execution by Howard and McGee, although JaVale’s performance the second half of the season and the playoffs declined noticeably.
I also think the Lakers’ decision not to bring either of them back was more about what the team needed to support LeBron and AD. By the time we won the championship, it had become obvious that both Howard and McGee had become unplayable. They were hurting the spacing on offense and too slow to rotate or defend multiple positions on defense.
No disrespect to Howard and McGee, the Lakers dumped them because Pelinka and Vogel understood they needed a different kind of center who could stretch the floor and defend the perimeter. Did they solve that need? Not entirely although having AD, who is the perfect modern center, solves the problem to close games. Gasol will help offensively, as will Harrell although in an entirely different and unicornish way.
I still believe we need to a center like Myles Turner, who can shoot the three. protect the rim, and switch and defend on the perimeter. If we don’t pursue Giannis, I would to see us use some of the trading chips we’ve acquired to go after him at the trade deadline. He would be my top priority. Only 24-years old, he would be the perfect center to pair with AD.
As for signing Howard, Dwight knew that boat had sailed after he tried to accept the offer the Lakers never made. The media had already reported there were no suitors for him and the Lakers let him know they were not going to re-sign him so he took the only offer available. I wish him luck as I do JaVale. Both were great teammates and helped win the championship. It’s just a case of the evolution of the modern center position finally reaching the Los Angeles Lakers.
I think the changes in the centers is going to revolutionize the Lakers offense and transform the team into a juggernaut. It’s no secret I’ve been lobbying for the Lakers to embrace analytics and join the modern NBA for years so I’m thrilled with the changes and believe this could be the start of another Lakers’ dynasty. That Pelinka and Vogel made the switch gives me great confidence in their judgment, especially Frank who had always had rim protection as his gold standard. Watching Frank evolve has been especially gratifying.