The Los Angeles Lakers have already reportedly made a move this Saturday, coming to an agreement with undrafted forward Jonathan Holmes. However, the team may not be done with their moves this off-season.
According to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders the Lakers, along with the Dallas Mavericks, are apparently the front runners for center JaVale McGee:
Sources close to JaVale McGee say he's focused on getting healthy. Several teams have shown interest. Mavs, Lakers seem like frontrunners.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) August 8, 2015
McGee has always had exceptional talent and has shown flashes, but has struggled with injuries over the last couple of years. There were also reports of some issues while with the Nuggets though it is unclear exactly what may have been the problem.
The Lakers are in need of depth at the center position as the backups to Roy Hibbert at this time appear to be Tarik Black, who is only 6’9 at best, and Robert Sacre who hasn’t exactly inspired much confidence during his time with the team. Adding a high-upside player like McGee, who is still only 27, could be the perfect solution. At his best, McGee was a good rebounder and shot blocker who gave the Lakers, and plenty of other teams, a lot of issues.
If they were to add McGee, there would be some questions as to what that would mean for the contracts the Lakers already have. The Lakers have 12 guaranteed contracts, not including Tarik Black and Jabari Brown who are both on non-guaranteed deals. With Holmes supposedly on a partially-guaranteed contract and Robert Upshaw reportedly agreeing to a deal that is still un-signed, that would put the Lakers at 16 players before the possibility of McGee.
