LOS ANGELES \u2014 I guess Anthony Davis had it right after all.<\/p>\n
It was Davis, during his waning days as a Laker and in his frustration over being a power forward asked to play center, who more than once pleaded for Rob Pelinka to make a trade for a big man to play the \u201cfive.\u201d<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ve said, be careful what you wish for. Pelinka made a trade after those comments, but it was to send Davis to Dallas for Luka Doncic, a deal that will be talked about for years<\/a>.<\/p>\n But that acquisition didn\u2019t win the Lakers a championship, nor did it even get them out of the first round. And when Pelinka\u2019s attempt to acquire 7-foot center Mark Williams from Charlotte ran aground, supposedly because of something the Lakers saw in Williams\u2019 physical<\/a>, they first trusted the position to Jaxson Hayes but by the most important games of the season had settled on a center-less lineup.<\/p>\n The consequences, as felt Wednesday night, were severe. Rudy Gobert, the Minnesota Timberwolves\u2019 7-1 center, all but personally escorted the Lakers out of the postseason, his 27 points and 24 rebounds \u2013 including a whopping nine on the offensive glass \u2013 keying a 103-96 Wolves victory that wrapped up the first-round series in five games<\/a>.<\/p>\n Anyone remember \u201cno rebounds, no rings\u201d?\u00a0That was a Pat Riley comment, in the \u201cShowtime\u201d era of Lakers hegemony. It\u2019s as true today as it was then. Minnesota outrebounded the Lakers 54-37 on Wednesday, and the Timberwolves grabbed 18 offensive rebounds for the second game in a row.<\/p>\n Rebounding wasn\u2019t the only reason why the Timberwolves, the No. 6 seed that won only one fewer regular-season game than the No. 3 seed Lakers, will advance. Austin Reaves\u2019 inability to adequately meet the moment was a factor, too. But center-less basketball is as good a place as any to start when discussing the team\u2019s obvious offseason priorities.<\/p>\n First, it\u2019s worth noting that there still seem to be bruised feelings with Williams, who went back to Charlotte after the deadline deal was nullified and averaged 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds. Following Wednesday\u2019s game, he posted a smiley face emoji on X,<\/a> a statement in itself.<\/p>\n JJ Redick obviously wasn\u2019t satisfied with the center play he was getting with Hayes, especially in a matchup with a Timberwolves team that had length and athleticism with 6-9 Julius Randle (who Laker fans might remember from the draft lottery era), 6-9 Naz Reid and 6-9 Jaden McDaniels in their regular rotation to complement 6-4 Anthony Edwards.<\/p>\n Hayes played just 4:21 in Sunday\u2019s Game 4, sitting as Redick went with five guys exclusively in the second half<\/a>: Doncic, LeBron James, Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith. No subs, and the workload might have made a difference in the second half of Minnesota\u2019s 116-113 victory<\/a>, though the Lakers struggled in the fourth quarter all series<\/a>.<\/p>\n Proof that Redick remained sensitive to criticism of that move three days later: He was asked during his pregame briefing by KTLA\/Channel 5\u2019s Rahshaun Haylock if he might lean on his assistant coaches regarding substitution patterns. It wasn\u2019t a bad question, but he responded testily: \u201cAre you saying that because I\u2019m inexperienced and that was an inexperienced decision that I made? You think I don\u2019t talk to my assistants about substitutions every single timeout?\u201d<\/p>\n Moments later, he dropped the mic and left the room.<\/p>\n The footnote: Redick is a first-year head coach who has two former NBA head coaches on the bench beside him, Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks. But it\u2019s not known if they tried to talk him out of his non-substitution pattern on Sunday, or if it even would have worked had they been insistent. And it\u2019s also worth noting that Hayes stayed on the bench throughout Wednesday\u2019s game while 6-10 Maxi Kleber, one of the other acquisitions in the Doncic trade, played 4:57 in his very first minutes as a Laker.<\/p>\n James, Doncic and Jarred Vanderbilt shared the team lead with seven rebounds. Edwards contributed 11 to Minnesota\u2019s total. And there were plenty to be had; the Timberwolves shot 40.4% overall (36 for 89, including 7 for 47 from 3-point range), while the Lakers shot 42.3% (33 for 78) and made 11 of 37 from behind the arc.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one thing if he (Gobert) is the only one out there,\u201d Redick said. \u201cIt\u2019s another if you\u2019ve got multiple crashers (to the boards). They all have license to crash, and you have to account for them. Plus Gobert is just bigger than anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cJust too many turnovers (15), too many offensive rebounds,\u201d he added, with a reference to his team\u2019s struggle to score. The Lakers reached 100 points just twice in the five games and reached 20 in the fourth quarter once while being outscored in the fourth each game. Wednesday they were outscored 22-16 in the final period.<\/p>\n \u201cI think given the struggles scoring the ball, particularly early in the series, there is a tradeoff,\u201d Redick said. \u201cThere is always a tradeoff. You can say \u2018Oh, play a center.\u2019 We couldn\u2019t score, so there\u2019s a tradeoff to everything with this.\u201d<\/p>\n But playing without one didn\u2019t help, either.<\/p>\n