The Los Angeles Lakers have a massive hole to fill after their blockbuster trade for Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams was stunningly rescinded due to a failed physical exam.
Jovan Buha of The Athletic predicts the Lakers will waive one player on their roster to get a center.
“I think it’s going to be between Christian Wood, Cam Reddish and Shake Milton,” Buha said on his podcast, “Buha’s Block” on Feb. 8. “I would assume more so between Wood and Reddish.”
Buha added Wood is likely to be waived unless the Lakers are confident he could return within the next couple of weeks.
“If not, I really don’t see the point,” Buha said. “Like, what is the point of keeping him? You need a big man now. So, we shall see.”
Wood has yet to recover from his knee surgery in September last year. The Lakers have not released a concrete timeline of his return. In November, he suffered a setback after experiencing soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee.
The 6-foot-8 center has not played since Feb. 14, 2024. He is a stretch center, whose 37.2% career 3-point shooting mark is the best among the Lakers big men. He has career averages of 13.6 points and 7.0 rebounds.
The Lakers are roughly $1.6 million under the second apron and could only sign a player whose previous contract is less than $12.8 million.
Jericho Sims on Lakers’ Radar Before Mark Williams Trade
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the Lakers considered former New York Knicks reserve center Jericho Sims before the Hornets presented the opportunity to trade for Williams.
“The Lakers considered adding bruising 6-10 center Jericho Sims, sources said, before he was moved from New York to Milwaukee on Wednesday for Delon Wright as an addition to the Kyle Kuzma-for-Khris Middleton deal. Sims would have fit the “stuff around the margins” category that Pelinka vowed the team would explore during Doncic’s introductory news conference Tuesday because, the GM said, “the market for bigs right now … is very dry. There’s just not a lot available,” McMenamin wrote.
Sim, who registered a 44.5-inch vertical jump at the 2021 NBA draft combine, is an athletic lob threat. However, he isn’t as skilled as Williams, who is in the midst of a career season before the nixed trade with the Lakers.
Williams is averaging 15.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks while shooting an efficient 59.7% from the field. On the other hand, Sims has only averaged 13.4 minutes per game, producing 2.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in his career as a fringe center for the Knicks before he was traded to the Bucks.
Jaxson Hayes Picks up Slack
The Lakers are left with career backup center Jaxson Hayes as their only healthy center on the roster who is eligible to play in the playoffs.
His current backups Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III are on two-way contracts, thus they are not eligible to be rostered in the playoffs.
Hayes, however, has picked up the slack since Anthony Davis suffered an abdominal injury before he was traded for Luka Doncic.
The 7-foot center is averaging 8.0 points on 77.3% shooting, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.0 steals during the Lakers’ five-game winning streak since he jumped into the starting lineup.
