In the aftermath of DeMarcus Cousins‘ knee injury, the Los Angeles Lakers are bringing in two former All-Star centers — Joakim Noah and Dwight Howard — to evaluate in individual workouts in Los Angeles, league sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The workouts will also include veteran Mo Speights, league sources said.
Another center under consideration, per sources: Marcin Gortat, who is currently overseas in Europe.
Howard is under contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, but the team has given him permission to explore opportunities elsewhere in the NBA. He has a $5.6 million expiring contract that could be useful as a trade asset, or he could work out a contract buyout with the Grizzlies. It is unlikely that he will play a game for the franchise, league sources said.
Cousins suffered a torn left ACL in a workout last week, likely leaving the Lakers without him for the duration of his one-year, $3.5 million deal with the franchise.
The Lakers have JaVale McGee and will try to cobble together a center rotation that will include Anthony Davis, with the organization still preferring that he play a majority of his minutes at power forward and not center.