The Los Angeles Lakers are expressing serious interest in former Lakers center Dwight Howard, as they are organizing individual workouts with he and a couple of other veteran center such as Joakim Noah and Mo Speights. However, according to one plugged-in NBA source, the Lakers coaching staff may not be very sold on Howard or any of the other available veteran options.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was on SportsCenter Monday, discussing the Lakers reported interest in Howard and the permission they received from the Memphis Grizzlies to communicate with Howard. During his SportsCenter hit, Windhorst said that the Lakers coaches want a ‘younger’ center to help them replace what they lost with the DeMarcus Cousins injury, suggesting that Howard is unlikely.
But while that may be what the Lakers coaches have envisioned, there have been no indications yet that their front office is inclined to go in that direction. Center Jonathan Williams was a two-way player for the Lakers last season and had a couple of strong moments, but there have yet to be any mentions of Williams or any of the younger centers on the market. Another problem for the Lakers is that several other young centers that may have filled a need have already signed contracts with teams overseas.
And of course, we have their track record over the past few years of getting rid of young, serviceable big men for essentially nothing, like Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant.
While the Lakers coaching staff would obviously prefer a younger body to absorb a bigger workload and soak up minutes, the market may prevent them from getting what they want.
