“Gotta Get a 5-Man”: Gilbert Arenas and Co. Highlight Lakers’ Biggest Weakness Following D’Lo Trade

The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the first notable moves of the NBA’s trade season on Sunday when they traded D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. Finney-Smith should help L.A. with his three-point shooting and defense, but the co-hosts of the Gil’s Arena podcast believe that the Lakers have a bigger need.

Arenas and the crew discussed the Lakers’ lack of serious options behind Anthony Davis at the center position, and how the lack in depth would affect them inversely if they were to face the Nuggets, who have knocked them out of the past season 2 years in a row.

Kenyon Martin laid it out quite simply: “You gotta go get a 5-man.” He’s right because right now, the Lakers have Anthony Davis and not much else down low. Jaxson Hayes has been injured for most of the year, and he’s never proven that he can be a reliable playoff contributor anyway.

The Lakers have been bounced out of the playoffs the last two years by Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, and Gilbert Arenas believes that L.A. needs to go back to the way they played in 2020 when they won the title with Davis playing mostly at the 4, to have a chance to flip the script. That Lakers team had JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard to play center, and it was especially important defensively, as it allowed AD to focus more on help defense instead of banging down low.

Arenas pointed to Pistons great Ben Wallace as an example of what a great defensive player could do when he had a worthy running mate next to him. “Ben Wallace is a great defender by himself, but what did he look like with Rasheed Wallace next to him? Now he’s golden.” Davis could have a similar impact if the Lakers acquire another center.

The Lakers are 18-13 and in the midst of a nice stretch, as they’ve won five of their last six games. Adding a big to take pressure off of Davis down low could be the final ingredient in making them a real contender. With five weeks remaining until the trade deadline and several good fits potentially available, GM Rob Pelinka should have the opportunity to make further improvements.

What bigs could be wearing Lakers colors in the next few weeks?

More is being asked of Anthony Davis this year than ever before, and LeBron James just turned 40 yesterday. If the Lakers hope to make a serious run at another title with this core, now is the time, but which players could be available?

Several teams are already active participants in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, which means that the Lakers could have a variety of options to improve their frontcourt. Some examples include Walker Kessler of the Jazz, Jonas Valanciunas of the Wizards (who the Lakers pursued in free agency this summer), and Jakob Poeltl of the Raptors. All three would provide a boost in defense and rebounding.

Pelinka could make Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and Jalen Hood-Schifino available in any potential deal. Losing the dependable Hachimura would hurt, but seeing as he the versatile Japanese plays the 4, including him in a deal for a dependable big would allow Davis to fit the gap he left, thus resulting in an overall net positive for the Purple and Gold.