One question surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers’ chances of winning the NBA championship next season is their frontcourt rotation.
This season, Anthony Davis played almost exclusively at the 5, and when he was healthy, he played extremely well most of the time. But when L.A. was swept in the Western Conference finals by the Denver Nuggets, it became clear it may be better off having someone other than him guard Nikola Jokic.
Since the road to the NBA Finals in the West will likely run through the Nuggets for the foreseeable future, the Lakers could use a true center or two. That would allow Davis to return to the power forward position, where he played a good chunk of his minutes when they won it all in 2020.
Could the Lakers turn to the 2023 NBA draft to snag a big man with potential? They recently worked out an interesting one named Oscar Tshiebwe from the University of Kentucky.
Tshiebwe is a bull in the paint
Tshiebwe is just 6-foot-9 but weighs about 260 pounds, and he has played the center position for the Wildcats. He has spent the last two years at Kentucky after transferring from West Virginia University, where he played as a freshman and sophomore.
After making the move to The Bluegrass State, he started to blossom and became a monster on the boards. He averaged 15.1 rebounds a game as a junior and 13.7 boards per game this past season while grabbing a high proportion of his team’s available rebounds.
Offensively, Tshiebwe can score with his back to the basket, and he is a pretty strong finisher whose wingspan is nearly 7 feet, 4 inches. He put up 16.5 points per contest on 56% shooting in the 2022-23 season, and he also attempted 5.9 free throws a game, although he made only 72.9% of them.
He can hit the mid-range shot, but he doesn’t have range beyond about 15-18 feet out, which limits his versatility. His shot release is also slow, which could be a problem at the next level.
Tshiebwe averaged 1.6 steals a game this past season and has the ability to make plays defensively with his active hands. But he isn’t a true rim protector, and he has trouble defending the pick-and-roll, partly due to his lack of quickness.
Tshiebwe could end up being a second-round draft pick, and perhaps his potential is as a bench player who comes in to provide some inside muscle. It’s hard to imagine him being a quality starter due to his lack of height, athleticism and offensive skill sets.
