The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly claimed rookie forward/center Tarik Black off of waivers, releasing Xavier Henry to make room for the transaction. Black was cut by the Houston Rockets to make roster space for the acquisition of former Detroit Pistons forward Josh Smith, who signed with the team earlier this week.
While the Lakers surely need the depth and youth that a young player like Tarik Black will bring, it’s a bit interesting considering the team passed on signing an experienced forward in Earl Clark to take over Henry’s roster spot following his season ending Achilles rupture. Black did start for the Rockets during a stint where Dwight Howard was sidelined by injury, and certainly can claim to have more upside than Clark considering the points that the players are at in their careers.
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Initially, it looks as though Tarik Black is being brought in for purely depth purposes as the Lakers’ staple of bigs can claim to be the deepest facet of the roster. With Carlos Boozer, Jordan Hill, Ed Davis, Robert Sacre, and eventually Ryan Kelly all fighting for minutes, it’s going to be interesting to see how (if at all) Black is able to grab minutes. He has proven himself to be a solid rebounder (averaged 5.1 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game with Houston), which is a skill that a struggling team like the Lakers could certainly use.
Another interesting aspect, if the Lakers are seriously considering using Tarik Black as anything else besides bench depth, is that this signing could help ease the pain of a possible trade of Jordan Hill or Ed Davis. Both players are technically on expiring deals (Hill has a $9 million team option, while Davis has a player option for around $1 million) and could net the Lakers some much needed assets in return.
With the handful of weeks leading up to the trade deadline, it’s possible the team could choose to move forward with a combination of Carlos Boozer, Ryan Kelly, Robert Sacre, and Black if they are able to get any usable assets from a trade involving either Hill or Davis.
As a team barren on tradable assets, Jordan Hill represents an option that could be dealt for either draft choices or a potential young rotation player. He reportedly has drawn some interest thus far, though overtures from other clubs have been resisted by the Lakers so far. As for Ed Davis, he has emerged as a nice rebounding and rim defending option for the Lakers despite being on a contract worth a little less than $1 million this season.
The problem is that Davis has a player option for next season, one he will likely decline as he has proven himself to be worth much more than what he will be owed next year. For these reasons, the Lakers could seriously consider trading either of these players and deploy Tarik Black in a meaningful role.
It’s unlikely that this is the case, considering the expectations for Tarik Black should be low considering his undrafted rookie status in the league. In all reality, the Lakers probably are just trying to add a young player that they can get into their system at a cheap price. However, as this team continues to slide down the standings and inevitably offers roll in, it will be interesting to monitor how the Tarik Black signing affects the Lakers willingness to part with either of these players in a potential asset building deal.