NBA: Lakers Gave In To Forward's Wish To Make New Signing

Anthony Davis arrived from the New Orleans Pelicans earlier in the summer to partner LeBron James and help end Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff drought which has stressed for a franchise-record six seasons. They are now considered among the favorites for the 2020 NBA title but coach Frank Vogel had to address certain issues before the new season to satisfy the power forward.

It is well known that Davis has made it clear to the Lakers coaching staff that he has no interest in playing too many minutes in the no. 5 position, especially in the regular season. He revealed that he has no qualms about filling that role in the post-season but until they get there, Vogel will have to look at other players.

Vogel had DeMarcus Cousins and JaVale McGee as the two center’s on the roster but they have now lost the former for potentially the entire 2019-20 season due to an ACL injury. McGee was the only remaining center on the team and Davis’ insistence about not wanting to play the role forced them look elsewhere for a replacement, which saw the arrival of former Laker Dwight Howard, who was waived by the Washington Wizards.

According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Davis had a major role to play in the Lakers aggressively looking for a center after Cousins’ injury. They even looked at Joakim Noah and Marreese Speights as alternatives but settled on Howard, who spent one season in Los Angeles between 2012 and 2013.

“The reason that Dwight is a Laker is because Anthony Davis doesn’t want to play the five. He doesn’t want to play against the big centers in the Western Conference. He needs a big dude next to him that can eat up some of those minutes and take some of that physical pounding from Nikola Jokic or (Jusuf) Nurkic or any of the centers you want to name out West ... Anthony Davis doesn’t want to be that guy, and so he had a big say in whether or not Dwight was going to be cast in this role for them,” Shelburne said, as quoted Silver Screen and Roll.

Apart from Davis and Cousins, the Lakers also added Rajon Rondo, Jared Dudley and Danny Green and if they are to convince the power forward to commit his long-term future to the team when he enters free agency next season, the playoffs are just the bare minimum they require.