The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly looking to add another player to their roster as their frontcourt depth has taken a hit. Over the summer, the franchise only added one player to their roster but have kept the players they had last season.

The frontcourt depth they had during the 2023-24 NBA season will be similar this year, but they’ve started to scout other options.

ESPN’s Shams Charania shared information that the Lakers are exploring the free-agent market to address their big-man concern.

In his debut on “NBA Today” on Thursday, Charania went into detail about why the organization has started to scout players, specifically big men.

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“Sources tell me the Lakers have been exploring, potentially adding a big man, a center to their roster,” Charania said. “Not sure exactly when that will take place. But they have started looking into the marketplace. Christian Wood remains sidelined, he’s got a knee issue. He had surgery recently, they’re waiting for him to be back.
“Christian Koloko, they signed him to a two-way contract before training camp. He was expected to play a potential reserve role on this roster… the Lakers doctors have felt confident that he will be cleared by the league’s fitness to play panel due [to] his blood clot issue. But that is still an ongoing process.”
The Purple & Gold expected Christian Wood to be back this season after he missed the final two months of the previous campaign. He underwent an arthroscopic knee procedure on his left knee before the offseason, which started his rehab process.

However, the big man had to undergo the same procedure on the same knee early in September.

Over the summer, they signed Christian Koloko, in hopes of addressing their frontcourt dept. Unfortunately, the league has not given the team the green light to allow Koloko to play. Last season, the big man missed the entire campaign due to a blood clot issue.

Also read: Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood offer realistic timeline from injury return as training camp gets underway

Lakers HC wants Anthony Davis to play the power forward position
It has been a while since Anthony Davis took over the power forward position. Since the 2021-22 NBA season, Davis has been the team’s center. However, that hasn’t worked out well for the team’s success. This is why head coach JJ Redick wants to put AD back in his natural position.

Redick talked about his plans with Davis on Thursday:

“It’s definitely something we could use in our rotation,” Redick said. “What I really like is having AD at the four and him being able to be in that switching group while still having some size at the five with Jaxson. That part of it I like a lot.”
During the team’s historic playoff run in 2020, Davis played the power forward position most of the time. It could be the key for the team to be dominant once again.

Also read: “Rob is an idiot”: Lakers fans rue team composition after Christian Wood, Jarred Vanderbilt’s dampening injury update

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Edited by Steven Kubitza