Lakers News: Top 5 Free Agent Center Prospects For Los Angeles
Your Los Angeles Lakers have made no secret of the fact that they remain on the prowl for at least one more roster addition, with team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka revealing that he hopes to specifically bring in one more reserve center. When it comes to filling out its frontcourt, Los Angeles has already added one backup center, former lottery pick Jaxson Hayes, and two combo forwards, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish, to the fray.
So who beyond ex-Laker Tristan Thompson is left on the free agent market, and which represents the best fit for this roster? Los Angeles is allegedly eyeballing two very different veteran centers, with diametrically opposed strengths and weaknesses. Both of them are on this list.
5. Omer Yurtseven
Although the seven-footer honestly looked more promising while getting major minutes as a rookie in 2021-22, his youth and encouraging numbers as an injury/coronavirus-necessitated starter that season suggest that he may have some untapped upside. During his 10 games as a rookie starter, "Big Yurt" logged eye-popping averages of 13.6 points on 54.5% field goal shooting, 13.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks a night.
Yurtseven was not a rotation contributor for either of the Miami Heat's two playoff runs while with the franchise.
Given that his market that seems to have chilled, the 25-year-old out of Georgetown could probably even be added on a non-guaranteed deal.
4. Dewayne Dedmon
Dedmon, now 33, enjoyed his best seasons with some lottery-bound Atlanta Hawks teams from 2017-19. The seven-footer is a productive reserve journeyman who's not afraid to shoot from deep, albeit at a low volume (he's a career 33.6% shooter on 1.1 tries a night, though in his most productive season from three, 2018-19, he made 38.2% of 3.4 attempts per game.
The (occasional) outside shooting qualifies him as a potentially solid two-way option, but his advanced NBA age and recent chemistry questions make him something of a risk. Locker room issues over playing time left to a midseason trade away from the Miami Heat, who generally seem to manage headache players pretty well. He never developed much of a rotation role with the Philadelphia 76ers, appearing for cameos in just eight regular season games (outside of one five-minute cameo, he was not a part of the team's playoff lineups).
3. Willy Hernangomez
The 6'11" big man is coming off a three-year, veteran's minimum deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, and served as a solid rotation big on a feisty young team that gave the Phoenix Suns a first round scare in 2022.
He was a less steady rotation presence on a 2022-23 Pelicans team that seemed likely to be a surefire playoff squad, had a certain out-of-shape former No. 1 draft pick been healthy for more than 29 games this past season.
When he did play last year, Hernangomez proved relatively effective. Across 38 contests last year, he averaged 6.9 points and 4.7 boards.
2. Bismack Biyombo
Biyombo, a 6'8" big man with very little offensive ability beyond activity around the rim (where he made 81.4% of his shots last season, to be fair), remains a high-level deterrent around the basket.
Jock Landale may have been the Deandre Ayton backup getting the most love in free agency this summer, but Biyombo was a threat with the Suns, too, in more finite playing time. He averaged 4.3 points on 57.8% field goal shooting, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in a scant 14.3 minutes per. He'd be a totally serviceable Anthony Davis substitute defensively, and has the quickness to at least stay in front of opposing bigs in the paint.
1. Christian Wood
Wood might be a reach here, as I at least expected there to be a bigger market for his services this summer. All it takes is one team to make him a more sizable offer than what LA could afford (again, the veteran's minimum), although thus far that club has yet to materialize.
He's a three-level scorer, capable of nailing shots in the paint, at the charity stripe or even from three-point land. Last year in a mostly reserve role with the Dallas Mavericks, the 27-year-old averaged 16.6 points on .515/.376/.772 shooting splits, 7.3 boards, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks across 67 games.
So why is he still available? He's allergic to defense, despite a surfeit of athleticism, and has never exactly endeared himself to teammates. There's a chance he's a classic "good stats, bad team" empty calorie scorer.
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