Ranking potential backup big men candidates for the Lakers

1. Joakim Noah

Dwight Howard is the best player on this list when healthy, but a team with title aspirations needs to value the intangibles, egos and personalities just as much as on-court production. To that end, there really isn’t a better option than Joakim Noah, who proved himself in his late-career revival with the Memphis Grizzlies last year.

He’s clearly a step slower these days, but the Lakers don’t need the 2014 DPOY version of Noah; they simply need the capable backup and knowledgeable defender who posted 7.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in a mere 16.5 minutes per game last year.

Pros:

• Noah was extremely productive off the bench for the Grizzlies last year, which is exactly where he’d slot in with the Lakers.
• A center rotation of JaVale McGee, Anthony Davis and Joakim Noah would lead the league — and possibly all of NBA history — in eyebrow ferocity.
• Despite all the criticism over his lack of range and ugly jumper, Noah actually converted on a respectable 71.6 percent of his free throws last season.
• Noah upped his numbers after the Marc Gasol trade in an expanded backup role, posting 11.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
• He’s the type of guy who will double-team in open gyms. If the goal is to compete for championships, you want an ass like that on your side.
• Unlike Howard, Speights or Gortat, Noah has a reputation as both a fierce competitor and useful veteran influence in the locker room. The Lakers could use someone like that, and the wisdom he could impart on Anthony Davis could easily turn the Brow into a perennial DPOY candidate.

Cons:

• Feels the need to double-team in open gyms.
• Noah has zero in-game range.
• He’s no spring chicken at 34 years old.
• He hasn’t played at least 67 games in a season since 2014-15. Availability is kind of the main selling point with Boogie tearing his ACL.