The Los Angeles Lakers’ roster for the 2023-24 season looks mostly set, and it is an impressive one, at least on paper.
D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves look to be the starters in the backcourt once again, backed up by Gabe Vincent and Max Christie, who has looked magnificent in summer league play. Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish will give LeBron James support at forward, and, of course, Anthony Davis can play the 4 and 5 spots.
But the center position is the one blemish. Jaxson Hayes was signed to provide depth, and while he can block shots, run the floor, throw down dunks and even rebound a little bit, he isn’t enough of an answer.
Even if Davis exclusively plays the 5 again this season, the Lakers will need one more serviceable center that can defend, rebound and ideally hit open 3-pointers to space the floor. Christian Wood has been rumored to be a candidate, but he is a weak defender.
With available free agents that are true centers limited to the bottom-of-the-barrel variety, perhaps L.A. should bring back Jay Huff and take a flyer on him.
Huff showed promise while with the Lakers
We’re not suggesting that Huff is the answer at the 5. But he is a prospect the Lakers had recently, only to let him go, and he showed potential.
He is listed at 7 feet, 1 inch and 240 pounds, which gives him legitimate size for the center position, even if he could stand to add bulk. Unlike Wood, he isn’t a power forward who masquerades as a center, which is asking for trouble against Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Domantas Sabonis.
Huff has mostly played in the G League so far in his career, although he has had a couple of short stints in the NBA. In 28 G League games with the South Bay Lakers during the 2021-22 season, he averaged 15.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 25.9 minutes a game while shooting 63.9% from the field and 28.3% from 3-point range.
This past season, he improved to 7.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per contest while hitting 40.4 percent from downtown for the G League Lakers and Capital City Go-Go in roughly the same amount of minutes. The big man was also named the G League Defensive Player of the Year and also earned an All-G League first-team nod.
In addition, he showed promise playing for the Lakers’ summer league team last year.
Right now, Huff is playing for the Houston Rockets’ summer team, but he is a free agent.
Jason Reed of “Lake Show Life” offered reasons L.A. should bring Huff back.
Via Lake Show Life:
“Huff could be the perfect option for the Lakers at center for multiple reasons. He has familiarity with the organization, he offers the floor-spacing outlook that the team wants so he isn’t redundant with Jaxson Hayes and he could probably be signed to a non-guaranteed contract.
“Huff could be a solid stop-gap option that the Lakers do not have to fully commit to. He does not have much of a market so a non-guaranteed contract should do the trick. This could allow the team to sign another free agent to get the roster to 15 then once a better option comes along, the Lakers could get rid of Huff if need be.
“And if he proves himself then he will simply earn a roster spot and be part of the rotation. Either way, it is a win-win for the Lakers and is the best way to maximize the roster spot for the time being.”
If the Lakers were to bring Huff back, especially if it were on a non-guaranteed contract, it wouldn’t exactly be a risk, yet there would be some meaningful upside if he puts in the work that is needed.
