Ranking potential backup big men candidates for the Lakers

3. Marreese Speights

Unlike Gortat, Marreese Speights did not play a single game in the NBA in 2018-19. He was last seen on the Orlando Magic in 2017-18, averaging 7.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in a meager 13.0 minutes per game.

However, given how Gortat’s lost a step and the fact that Mo Buckets brings some much-needed floor-spacing, he ranks just above the Lakers’ worst option here.

Pros:

• Speights shot at least 36 percent from 3 in each of his last three NBA seasons, taking 3.4 attempts per game in 2016-17 and 4.5 per game in 2017-18. That floor-spacing could prove vital for a team that might be starting non-shooters like Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee and Anthony Davis (and maybe even LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma if they don’t shake off last year’s shooting woes).
• In China last year, Speights put up 22.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 35.7 percent from 3 on a whopping 8.7 attempts per game, so he can clearly still play.
• Championship experience.
• Mo Speights is a fan favorite, pure and simple. The Lakers could use more likable guys, especially if they’re tough, gritty competitors like this one.

Cons:

• Speights is more of a small-ball, floor-spacing 5 than a traditional center, and he’s pretty lacking in the rim protection department with a career average of 0.5 blocks per game.
• He won’t help on the rebounding front, with a career average of 4.1 boards per game. He peaked at 6.2 rebounds a night way back in 2011-12.
• Did we mention he didn’t play in the NBA last year? That’s a fairly risky proposition for a team with legitimate championship aspirations but not a runaway juggernaut favorite like Speights’ Golden State Warriors were.