NBA Today: Assessing the Center position for Los Angeles Lakers after DeMarcus Cousins' injury

#3 Kenneth Faried

The Manimal had a resurgence with the Rockets before eventually falling out of the rotation.

Faried was phased out of the rotation steadily in his last few years with the Nuggets, and when he signed with the Nets, he was banished almost completely to the bench. He had a resurgence with the Rockets, largely as an undersized center. He reclaimed some of the rebounding and boundless energy of his “Manimal” days.

Putbacks, dunks, and cuts to the rim are still his primary sources of scoring, but he showed some improved offense. In just 24.4 minutes, he averaged 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds on 58.7% shooting from the field. He even stepped out to the 3-point line every now and then (8 for 25 from beyond the arc).

D’Antoni is notorious for shortening his rotation in the playoffs to 7 to 8 players, and Faried was a casualty of that annual tradition. In fact, grizzled veteran Nene moved ahead of Faried in the rotation for the Warriors series, which is odd considering Faried would fit more against the small lineups.

Despite his athleticism, he is not really a shot-blocker, and concerns about his defense and lack of offensive skills led to his benching in Denver and Brooklyn. But going by his last stint with the Rockets, there is not any reason why he should not be signed somewhere. He also figures to have some more productive years left, on the cusp of turning 30 years old. At 6-8, he is more of a power forward than center, but he can match up with smaller bigs such as Montrezl Harrell and Draymond Green.

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Other notable names: Nene, Zaza Pachulia, Mo Speights, Tyler Zeller, Marcin Gortat, Amir Johnson, Eric Moreland

It will be interesting to see the decision that the Lakers make in the coming weeks before training camp. Will they ride out with the current roster and see how it goes to start the season, or will they add more size to fill the void? If the former happens, the Lakers could run a lot of small ball with only one true center on the active roster (McGee), with the likes of Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, and even possibly LeBron James seeing minutes at the 5.

Swingmen Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope would then see time at small forward too. But given that the Lakers have been linked to Dwight Howard, Kenneth Faried, Joakim Noah, Mo Speights, and Marcin Gortat, and are planning workouts with a few of those players, it is evident that they will attempt to fill that hole sooner rather than later.