The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the biggest upgrades this year with the acquisition of Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. On top of that, the Lakers also managed to sign DeMarcus Cousins and Danny Green. Recently, reports claim that the Lakers is looking for a couple more boost to its roster. Among the names that are being thrown around that the Lakers reportedly are negotiating with are Joakim Noah and Dwight Howard.
These three players have something in common; they all play either center or the power forward positions. It would appear that the Lakers is aiming to boost its number of big men. Another common point that these three players have is that they are all veterans of the court. With Cousins potentially sitting next season due to a recently sustained injury, the Lakers will no doubt look for a viable veteran that will share the center duties with JaVale McGee.
Howard is currently signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. While this might offer some sort of hurdle for the Lakers, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has noted that the Grizzlies will be willing to negotiate for a buyout for the aging veteran.
Howard still has around $6 million left on his contract with the Grizzlies. Howard is eligible for a veteran minimum exception contract of $2.6 million, should he decide to leave Memphis for a different team. Should Howard decide to sign with the Lakers, this will be his second stint with the team.
Looking at the current Lakers lineup, it would appear that LeBron James will be sharing frontcourt duties with Davis and McGee. Cousins would have been a great addition to this current rotation, but he is currently rated to return indefinitely due to a torn ACL.
As for Noah, he posted a rather dismal performance last season. He played 42 games for the Grizzlies where is averaged 7.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 16.5 minutes per game. He was relegated to the reserve team where he mostly played second fiddle to Marc Gasol. Despite this, Noah had said on several occasions that he is fine with having a bench role.
Noah was signed by the Grizzlies in December after he was cut by the New York Knicks in October last year. According to reports, Noah and Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek had some unresolved issue. During the 2017 - 2018 season, Noah just played seven games for the Knicks.
