Laker’s center Timofey Mozgov to sit remainder of season
By mdelaney
The Los Angeles Lakers decided to pull the plug on center Timofey Mozgov’s season in favor of giving younger players more time on the court.
Los Angeles is biting the bullet on its foolhardy signing of Mozgov after 54 games, according to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears. The 30-year-old center’s four-year, $64 million contract that was added to the books last summer looks to be a wash as the Lakers announce they’ll sideline the big man for the remainder of the season. The reasoning is to give younger players more court time including a green, but promising Ivica Zubac time at the 5, while also getting 2014 first-round draft selection Julius Randle used to playing the position in the Lakers’ smaller lineups.
Here’s Mozgov’s initial reaction to the decision when it was made back in early February, prior to Los Angeles’ decision to keep him courtside permanently.
I caught Timofey Mozgov before he left the arena. He asked for time to process his benching. pic.twitter.com/22DswrLUag
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) February 7, 2017
The contract left many scratching their head this past summer. Pursuing current Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside seemed feasible and ideal when he was on the market last summer. Even after Whiteside decided to stay in South Beach, other more valued centers like Washington Wizards reserve Ian Mahinmi or the Orlando Magic’s Bismack Biyombo (who both earned contracts in the neighborhood of Mozgov) were still up for grabs, but L.A. failed to entertain either one. Instead, they opted for Mozgov and found out pretty quickly that the much of the center’s success was tied to playing alongside LeBron James.
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Moving to the younger players is also a big-picture move for Los Angeles. For one, they want to make sure the core players are gelling appropriately and elevating their situational awareness so it won’t require another year of growing pains to stall their ascent. The other, and more important point, is the younger players will tank on their own and ensure the Lakers hold on to the team’s top-three protected pick in the upcoming draft. A high pick increases L.A.’s likelihood of acquiring one of the studs from this year’s loaded draft class and, hopefully, the last piece of the puzzle for this struggling franchise.