The Los Angeles Lakers cleared a roster spot on Monday night when they decided to dispense with security guard Quinn Cook, and with Anthony Davis still out due to injury, immediate speculation was that they would try to add a big man to help. with his absence. The most prominent big man available is DeMarcus Cousins, who was on the Laker roster for part of last season, and reports had already tied the two sides for a possible reunion.
But according to Brad Turner and Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, it’s unlikely that Cousins will return to the Lakers at this point. They report that the Lakers will not immediately fill Cook’s spot, which makes sense. The Lakers are being pushed against the hard limit, and the longer they wait to fill their two vacant roster slots, the cheaper the pro-rated minimum contracts they offer free agents will be. That allows them to keep a few extra dollars below the hard cap line in case they have to make a slightly unbalanced trade on deadline.
One possible target, according to Turner and Woike, is Hassan Whiteside, the Sacramento Kings big man. The Kings are down to No. 11 in the Western Conference, with Whiteside playing just 14.6 minutes per game, his lowest total since becoming a starter during the 2014-15 season. What he would offer the Lakers at this point is much-needed size. They don’t currently have seven feet on the roster and with Davis out, the Lakers are struggling to defend the edge. Whiteside doesn’t defend the perimeter well at all, but routinely amasses some of the highest block totals in basketball. Whiteside would likely struggle to earn minutes in the postseason, when Davis will likely slide most of his minutes back to center. However, he could help fill a regular season void.
The Lakers renounced Cook on flexibility above all else. It was a sign that Rob Pelinka thinks this roster should be upgraded. What form that will take remains to be seen, but if he does indeed intend to take his time, as this report suggests, that indicates that pretty much anything could be on the table for the Lakers.