LA Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka has revealed the team’s priority move in the offseason after being beaten 4-1 in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Despite Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura combining for 73 points, the LA Lakers looked miles off their best and were punished by the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 103-96 defeat in Game 5.
It was a monster double-double from Rudy Gobert, who scored 27 points and grabbed 24 boards, who made things extremely difficult for the Purple and Gold.
The Lakers did not have anyone to stop him and this led to them suffering their third straight defeat in the series, leading to another first-round exit for Pelinka’s team.
While they had a player in Anthony Davis who could have done that well, the team traded him away in a mega trade deal that saw Doncic come to the roster.
James made a comment on Davis, who had previously asked the team for a center when he was still with them.
Having realised the lack of size on the team, Pelinka has stated that making a move for a center would be the priority for the Lakers in the offseason.
The Lakers also got completely shattered on the boards as they managed to only collect 37 rebounds in comparison to the 54 grabbed by the T-Wolves.
Fans expressed their views on X and with some even stating they missed Davis on the roster.
While Jaxson Hayes showed some great signs in the regular season, his defensive ability was not good enough to be able to play him against Gobert and even Naz Reid.
Having seen the lack of size, Pelinka confirmed the Lakers would add a center to the roster in the offseason.
He said: “When you make a huge trade at the trade deadline where you trade your starting center for point guard, of course that’s going to create significant issues with the roster and we saw some of those play out.
“This offseason one of our primary goals is going to be to add size to our frontcourt in the center position and that’s going to just be part of the equation.”
Pelinka also stated the offseason was going to be busy for many other teams in the NBA.
“I think this offseason there is going to be a lot of movement around the NBA. There are so many aggressive leaders of organizations that are expecting [immediate] success. I think there will be a lot of opportunities for to look at. I’m excited about what will come our way,” he said.
The Lakers also lacked defensive resiliency all series as players like Austin Reaves and Doncic kept getting beaten by the T-Wolves players.
Reaves, was not at his best throughout the series and even had a poor Game 5 on both ends of the floor.
Doncic’s defensive weakness was also on display, despite his brilliant show with the ball throughout the series.
Having seen that, Pelinka has also stated the team could also add more defensive wings.
“We need a big man and then I think in terms of solidifying our defensive core on the wings and making sure we have players that can defend the wing position that’s essential need, we see it playing out in the playoffs.
“Anytime you can upgrade your defensive core on the perimeter I think that’s gonna help,” said Pelinka.
