This past season, Anthony Davis played all of his minutes at the center position. Although he had arguably his best season, there have been calls for him to start at the 4, as he did during the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship season in 2020.
The team may have given a hint it wants to do just that by signing free agent center Jaxson Hayes. Hayes is a springy 6-foot-11, 23-year-old big man who can run the floor, jump high, finish strongly and block shots, which is similar to the profile of JaVale McGee, who started at the 5 during the 2019-20 campaign.
Jovan Buha wrote the Lakers are confident Hayes can start alongside Davis this season.
Via The Athletic:
“That’s before mentioning Jaxson Hayes, who the team is confident can start and play a prominent role with Davis in two-big lineups.”
However, Buha also noted that such a lineup could be problematic.
“For the record, the Lakers’ theoretical two-big plan, which general manager Rob Pelinka has repeatedly raised as a possible look for next season, doesn’t make sense — at least not with this roster.
“Playing Davis next to Hayes and/or another center would force (LeBron) James, (Rui) Hachimura and/or (Jarred) Vanderbilt to play more small forward than ideal. Asking James, in particular, to defend high-usage wings is too taxing of a physical burden. It also would set up too many scenarios in which the Lakers likely have three non-shooters in their frontcourt. (Remember: Teams gradually helped off James when he didn’t have the ball last season and largely ignored Davis from the perimeter.)”
The thinking is a big lineup with Davis at the 4 and a true center at the 5 would make Los Angeles better defensively and on the boards. It would also relieve Davis of the need to eat up lots of minutes guarding someone such as the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.
