he Los Angeles Lakers are busy trying to figure out who can fill up the void left by DeMarcus Cousins. The names of Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah and Mareese Speights have cropped up, all of whom will be given individual workouts. To broaden the search, Polish center Marcin Gortat is also in the mix.
Of the names mentioned, there is no question that Howard, Noah or even Speights make sense. But given that the Lakers need a blue-collar worker who needs to rebound and play good defense, Gortat could make sense. The 35-year-old center is currently overseas. The last time he saw action in the NBA was with the Los Angeles Clippers where he averaged 5.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in 47 games. He was waived last February, NBA.com reported.
Like Howard, Noah, and Speights, the Lakers will be checking out the physical condition of Gortat, said Adrian Wojnarowski citing league sources. Throughout his career, the 57th overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft has started in all but one of 1,035 games. Best of all, Gortat has found a way to keep himself healthy and having a player for most of the NBA season is definitely something needed.
Howard would have made sense only that the past NBA seasons have seen him often out of commission. Injuries have been keeping the 6-foot-11 cager in the sidelines and this is something that the Lakers or any NBA team does not want.
The same case holds true for Noah. Since leaving the Chicago Bulls, injuries have hounded 34-year-old big man. Aside from that, there is a big question on how he can co-exist with LeBron James – someone he has had issues in past seasons. The ability to get along will be important and it appears Gortat leads in this category. He is well-liked and ready to play hard – a workhorse that any team would want to have on their team.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka will have to decide soon as the Lakers hope to make an impact for the coming season. Cousins is a big loss since it means Anthony Davis could end up playing center most of the time. Hence, it all boils down to who among the four players (and possibly more) can fill the middle. As of this writing, it is a wide-open race.
