The Los Angeles Lakers are the frontrunners among four teams interested in signing 7-foot center Christian Koloko to bolster their frontline depth, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
“Sources said the Lakers – in need of frontcourt help – are leaders to sign Koloko, the 22-year-old former Raptors second-round pick. He has been deciding among multiple teams and is now finalizing a commitment on a deal to make his NBA return,” Charania tweeted on September 13.
Charania said the Lakers are competing against Koloko’s former team, the Toronto Raptors along with the Los Angeles Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers’ center rotation became thinner after Christian Wood underwent another surgery. Wood will miss at least eight weeks, according to Charania.
The opportunity to carve a meaningful role with the Lakers could be the swing factor in Koloko’s decision.
Koloko, the 33rd overall pick in 2022, was forced to put his basketball career on hold after he was discovered to have career-threatening blood clot issues in January, per the Associated Press.
The Raptors waived him after they received three players from Indiana in the Pascal Siakam trade.
Christian Koloko-Anthony Davis Potential Pairing
ESPN reported Anthony Davis prefers to play more often with a big man.
“One thing Davis has made clear to the Lakers, sources told ESPN, is his preference to play alongside another big more often,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote on September 12.
The comebacking Koloko will help in that regard.
Koloko, a former All-Pac 12 player, averaged 3.1 points per game, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 13.8 minutes during his rookie year with the Raptors.
During the pre-draft process, Koloko was compared to Brooklyn Nets’ rim-running center Nic Claxton.
“Koloko will have a defined role that calls for rim running, shot-blocking and switching defensively,” Bleacher Report’s draft analyst Jonathan Wasserman wrote in his scouting report of Koloko. “Anything more offensively would be a bonus, though he was one of the nation’s most efficient post scorers and improved at the free-throw line.”
JJ Redick Wants Bruising Big Man
Koloko could help the Lakers’ frontcourt fill Wood’s absence in the interim. But he is not the type of big man rookie head coach JJ Redick has been looking for.
In July, Redick was upfront about his wish to have a bruising big man to help Davis counter the centers of the Western Conference contenders.
“You certainly have to look at what I think is actually a very good roster, a very balanced roster, Redick said in an interview with Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson on Sirius XM NBA Radio during the NBA Summer League. “We’d love to, we tried, but we’d love to, at some point, get another five man, a big bruising five man.
“You look at the Western Conference right now, whether it’s Denver, Minnesota, OKC with what they added, certainly Memphis, they’re going to be back in the hunt, they added Zach Edey, certain matchups in the playoffs, you’re going to need a lot of size.”
If Koloko is to fill this role Redick has envisioned, the 230-lb center needs to add more muscle and strengthen his body.