The Los Angeles Lakers just made their first official move after trading for Luka Doncic. They signed former fifth-overall pick Alex Len to a contract, with the hope that he can help give them more size upfront. Len may not move the needle much for the Lakers, but he does address a need for more size, especially after the Mark Williams debacle.
The Lakers previously traded Dalton Knecht, a pick swap, a 2031 first-round pick, and Christian Wood to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Williams. However, they later rescinded the deal, leaving them without a starting center and looking for a replacement even though the trade deadline had already passed.
The Lakers are likely under no illusions that Len will provide them with anything other than six hard fouls and someone who can rebound. Nevertheless, at this point in the season, that is about the best the Lakers will be able to do to fill their biggest hole.
The Lakers newest addition, Alex Len, does little to solve their biggest flaw.
With the Lakers having to improve a center, they will almost certainly use a committee approach with Jaxson Hayes and Len filling the bulk of those minutes as well as Christian Koloko getting playing time as well.
They could also go small and have Jared Vanderbilt or even LeBron James play center in certain lineups, allowing them to add more shooting and make them that much tougher to stop. Finding 48 minutes of competent center play between those three players will be hard to do, and it is clear the Lakers' biggest flaw.
That won't work against every team, with the Denver Nuggets being the most obvious team that could exploit their lack of size. Other Western Conference contenders, such as the Houston Rockets with Alperin Sengun and even the Dallas Mavericks with Anthony Davis, would pose a problem in what would be the most ironic playoff matchup of all time.
They have Doncic, who can paper over a lot of flaws with him being one of the best offensive players in the NBA, not to mention LeBron, who can still take over a game. Of course, teams will look to attack Doncic on the other end of the floor, especially knowing that the Lakers won't have an effective rim protector there to have his back.
That could effectively limit their ceiling for this season, with them having to make do with what they have and see if they can improve in that area over the summer. In the meantime, the Lakers will have to see how far they can get with a work-in-progress roster.