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The Los Angeles Lakers\u2018 search for a starting-caliber center in the offseason could lead them to the Atlanta Hawks\u2018 Clint Capela.<\/p>\n
Bleacher Report\u2019s salary cap expert Eric Pincus named the soon-to-become unrestricted free-agent center as the Hawks\u2019 \u201cmost likely flight risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hawks must decide if Clint Capela is their starting center of the future or whether they should hand the reins to 24-year-old Onyeka Okongwu. Capela is taller (6\u201910\u201d) than Okongwu (6\u20198\u2033), but he\u2019s almost 31 and has slowed with age.<\/p>\n
The Hawks can look for a center in the draft (via the Los Angeles Lakers and\/or\u00a0Sacramento Kings\u2018 first-rounders) or in free agency,\u201d\u00a0Pincus wrote.<\/p>\n
If the Hawks, who have Capela\u2019s bird rights, do not bring him back, the Lakers could get him for the cheap \u2014 as low as the taxpayer midlevel exception or more than the non-taxpayer midlevel \u2014 depending on his market this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cCapela should find suitors elsewhere, although he\u2019ll undoubtedly be taking a pay cut from his $22.3 million salary this season. He should sign a new deal in the $5-14 million-per-year range,\u201d Pincus added.<\/p>\n
Capela will join a crowded center market led by fellow unrestricted free agents\u00a0Brook Lopez,\u00a0Myles Turner\u00a0and,\u00a0Al Horford,\u00a0Kevon Looney\u00a0and\u00a0Naz Reid\u00a0(player option).<\/p>\n
Turner is the obvious top choice but the Lakers do not have the cap room unless\u00a0LeBron James declines his player option and signs elsewhere which is unlikely happening. A sign-and-trade with Turner is possible but the Lakers need to give up rotation players to match salaries and besides, they only have their 2031 first-round selection and two pick swaps to potentially offer Indiana.<\/p>\n
But after Lakers vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka pulled off the\u00a0Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u00a0trade and nearly traded for\u00a0Mark Williams, anything is possible.<\/p>\n
If they want to retain their core and just add a center, Capela is a cheaper option.<\/p>\n
Capela perfectly fits the mold of a rim-running center which\u00a0Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u00a0asked the Lakers to get for him upon his arrival.<\/p>\n
Jaxson Hayes showed some flashes but he is inexperienced and has yet to put together a large sample size to make the Lakers believe he could be their long-term center.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old Capela isn\u2019t the long-term solution either but he could bridge the gap while the Lakers bid their time to have access to more draft assets to dangle for a bigger name.<\/p>\n
Capela is having a down year, averaging only 8.9 points and 8.1 rebounds with 1.0 blocks but that\u2019s because he\u2019s playing less in the Hawks\u2019 crowded center rotation. He\u2019s only playing 21.4 minutes, his lowest since the 2015-16 season.<\/p>\n
A move to the Lakers could give him starters minutes and potentially return to being the league\u2019s most prolific offensive rebounder.<\/p>\n
The Lakers have waived former lottery pick Cam Reddish to create roster space for\u00a0Jordan Goodwin,\u00a0whose two-way deal was converted to a standard contract to make him eligible for the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Goodwin, 26, has exhausted his eligibility as a two-way player for the Lakers after their win in Indiana.<\/p>\n
The undrafted guard has played well enough to warrant a playoff roster spot for the Lakers. The undrafted guard is averaging 6.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 20.5 minutes while shooting 41% from the 3-point line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Los Angeles Lakers\u2018 search for a starting-caliber center in the offseason could lead them to the Atlanta Hawks\u2018 Clint Capela. Bleacher Report\u2019s salary cap expert Eric… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n