Lakers newsletter: Here’s why they aren’t in a rush to add a big man

Hey everyone, this is Dan Woike and welcome to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where I have a simple question to ask you on behalf of the organization — are you 7 feet tall and able to protect the rim?

The Lakers’ bigs got bit by the injury bug, and this week, we’re going to look at why the Lakers probably won’t be addressing things via trade any time soon.

New problem, same answers

Since we last spoke, Anthony Davis got poked in the eye and missed the end of a win against Toronto.

Jaxson Hayes sprained his ankle during a practice drill. And Christian Wood, who hasn’t played this season because of offseason knee surgery, suffered a setback and will miss at least another month.

Hayes, Redick said, is going to miss one to two weeks.

While that stretch of games isn’t going to destroy the Lakers’ season provided no setbacks occur, the last week reinforced something that’s been a real issue for this team since its construction.

They’re just way too thin at center.

According to executives around the NBA, the Lakers have had discussions with a number of teams about big men, though nothing seems close to being more than check-ins. A number of teams have been active in trying to poke loose a serviceable big making it a pretty strong seller’s market in the early stages of this year.

The team had a lot of interest in Jonas Valanciunas, who ultimately signed with Washington in free agency. He’ll probably be a trade target closer to the deadline. Their interest, according to people familiar with the situation, in Utah big Walker Kessler is also sincere. Robert Williams III is three games into his comeback after missing most of the last two seasons with injuries and would fit the Lakers’ needs.

But internally, there are questions being asked by Lakers executives if using draft capital on a back-up big man is wise. One, it would certainly limit the availability of other options that could shake free between now and the trade deadline in February. And two, how does whomever the Lakers acquire address one of their biggest issues: transition defense. A certain type of center might not make a real difference there.

The team could try to create a roster spot, but they’d need to find a home for a player via trade, and the kinds of players oft-mentioned in that kind of deal (Wood, Maxwell Lewis, Jalen Hood-Schifino) would probably require the Lakers to attach some kind of draft pick. That would leave Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office wrestling with whether it’s worth at least a second-round pick for them to add a player who is almost certainly worse than Hayes.

Universally, it’s believed that it’s too early to make a trade reacting to Hayes’ ankle sprain. And in the short term, the team is going to try to make do with Christian Koloko and smaller lineups where Rui Hachimura and LeBron James play some center behind Davis.

Wednesday’s win against Memphis was a unique test, the Grizzlies being a rare team with 7-footers in their first and second units. Davis struggled with foul trouble, forcing the Lakers to use Koloko for eight minutes in the second half.

The Lakers won those minutes by seven points, a massive success.

Basically, the Hayes injury isn’t expected to force the Lakers into a deal they wouldn’t have made otherwise. Finding a big man is a priority for the Lakers as trade season really gets under way next month. But it’s not the only one (the team needs scoring off the bench and two-way wings with three-point touch are must-haves for championship teams).

Bronny and the G League

Publicly, the Lakers have said that all plans with Bronny James when it comes to him playing in the G League are “fluid.” Privately, the expectation is that James will likely just play games for South Bay while the Lakers and their affiliate are both in town.

The first test comes Friday when the Lakers will be in San Antonio and South Bay will be playing in Santa Cruz. It certainly seems like James will be with the big club as they begin their in-season tournament schedule.

While critics will quickly point to the Lakers short-changing James’ chances for G League reps, the team has traditionally tried to split at least some time for their draft picks between both rosters while exposing them to NBA life.

As a rookie, Max Christie, for instance, played in 13 of South Bay’s 32 regular-season games. Last year, Lewis played in 25 of their 34 games.

I’m still, somewhat reluctantly, taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to how the Lakers are going to handle this while trying to remember that if keeping him around the big club helps make LeBron James happy, there’s probably value in that too.

But if the goal is really to get Bronny James as ready as possible to play in NBA games regularly, the game reps with South Bay certainly seem like the most important part of that equation.

Song of the week

“Lost in the Light” by Bahamas

Three days after getting poked in the eye, Davis is still squinting some. Still, he’s been very clear that wearing some kind of protective eyewear is a last option. And hey, I can relate. I too have been lost in the light….OK that’s a real stretch. But I absolutely love this song.

In case you missed it

Anthony Davis says ‘the eye is fine’ and won’t miss Lakers’ next game

Bronny James makes his G League debut with LeBron and Anthony Davis watching

D’Angelo Russell moves to Lakers bench, says he just ‘wants to win’

Critical decision by JJ Redick pays off in Lakers’ win over 76ers

Bronny James’ G League debut game with South Bay Lakers is sold out