Lakers News: 2 Rockets Free Agent Big Men For Los Angeles To Consider
Tonight, your 34-35 Los Angeles Lakers, the Western Conference's ninth seed, will look to defeat the blatantly tanking 16-52 Houston Rockets, the West's 15th seed. LA will not be without its share of challenges, as the team will not have either of its two Hall of Famers, All-Star small forward LeBron James (right foot tendon injury) or center Anthony Davis (right foot stress injury maintenance) at its disposal.
Looking ahead, what kinds of players does Houston have on its current roster who could be good fits for Los Angeles this summer?
One Rocket, second-generation NBA swingman Kenyon Martin Jr., towers above the rest of the the Rockets' thin free agent crop. But the Rockets have a $1.5 million team option on his deal, and given that he has significantly outperformed that contract, it would behoove Houston to keep him around.
There are two veteran bench centers, however, who will reach unrestricted free agency and could be worth a gander for LA -- at the veteran's minimum, maximally, or even on non-guaranteed minimums: 7'4" vet Boban Marjonovic, star of screens big ("John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum") and small (seemingly every TV commercial for some reason), and Frank Kaminsky, the latter of whom theoretically could be a solid jump-shooting big, but can never stay healthy for long.
Marjonovic, 34, is more of an old-school banger. He'd be fun addition if LA was looking for some size and defense in spot minutes, although he's been on the downslope of his weirdly long career for a while now.
The seven-foot Kaminsky, 29, has also played sparingly since being flipped to the Rockets from the Atlanta Hawks earlier this season. He's averaging just 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds a game in 5.1 minutes per (across seven contests). Kaminsky is a career 34.9% three-point shooter on 3.0 attempts per, so theoretically he could be worth a gander.
Of the two, Kaminsky makes more sense. But I have a feeling they'll be available on the open market for a while. Better options should be acquirable, should LA even want to move on from its current bench big rotation of Wenyen Gabriel, Mo Bamba and Rui Hachimura.
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