Los Angeles Lakers Would be a Great Fit for This Stanford Star

The Los Angeles Lakers went all in this season, acquiring NBA star Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis, in one of the most stunning deals in league history, giving Los Angeles a bonafide superstar to run the show long after LeBron James retires.

While the deal signals that the Lakers are ready to be contenders for years, it also means that they now have a giant hole at the center position.

Davis, who was the Lakers center since his arrival in 2019, gave the Lakers a dominant interior force who was also an offensive star. But with Davis now gone, and a trade for Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams getting vetoed, the Lakers will almost certainly be in the market for a new center who they can pair with guys like Dončić and possibly, James.

Enter Stanford's Maxime Raynaud, who has evolved into a serious draft prospect with the dominant season he has had thus far. Averaging 19.9 points and 11.3 rebounds, Raynaud leads the ACC in both scoring and rebounding, while ranking 14th nationally in scoring and third in the nation in rebounding.

Coming into the season expected to take on an even bigger role under new head coach Kyle Smith, Raynaud has surpassed expectations and has been a big reason for why the Cardinal have been able to surpass their win total from the previous two seasons.

Assuming that Raynaud opts to go to the NBA after this season, he could very well be the type of player who will need some developing before becoming an everyday player in a team's lineup.

However, training with the France National Team in the summer ahead of the 2024 Olympics, Raynaud got the opportunity to practice against some top level NBA talent, something that looks to have really helped him grow his game this season.

Defensively, Raynaud may not be the lockdown interior force right away that Davis was all those years with the Lakers, but he would be an effective piece.

With Dončić expected to be the main scoring option or the close number two behind LeBron, Raynaud most likely would not be needed to be an excellent scorer, but his all-around talent makes him the type of player that is still very good even if he does not score all that much.

Currently, the Lakers main centers are Jaxson Hayes and the newly acquired Alex Len. Hayes, a former first round pick by the New Orleans Pelicans, has never been a regular starter, with the most starts that he has had in a season coming in the 2021-22 campaign, where he started 28 out of the 70 games that he played and averaged a career high of 9.3 points.

Hayes also has shown some inconsistency on defense in the past.

Len has bounced back and forth between being a starter and a rotational player throughout his career, but over the last few seasons as a member of the Sacramento Kings, he slowly started to see less action, playing in 36 games this season (three starts) while only averaging 1.4 points and 1.8 rebounds.

Both Hayes and Len are free agents next year, leaving the Lakers with major decisions to make. But if the Lakers do end up taking a guy like Raynaud, it is entirely possible that they will be able to gain back some of the production left behind by Davis and become a more well-rounded team that can compete for championships for years to come.