The Los Angeles Lakers are working out free-agent centers Tristan Thompson and Tony Bradley this week, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania and Jovan Buha. The Lakers are currently thin in the front court due to the absences of LeBron James and trade deadline acquisition Mo Bamba, leaving them with just Anthony Davis, Wenyen Gabriel and Jarred Vanderbilt as viable centers at the moment.
This came back to the bite the Lakers on Wednesday, in an upset loss to the Houston Rockets. Davis sat out the second night of a back-to-back in that one, and it forced the Lakers to double-team Rockets center Alperen Sengun frequently. The result was open shots for almost everybody else. The Lakers desperately need another body to avoid that exact scenario. They only have one more back-to-back this season, and it comes on April 4 and 5 against the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers.
Thompson hasn't played this season. He closed last season as a member of the Chicago Bulls, but has been working as a television analyst for ESPN thus far this season. His performance has declined in recent years, and he played for three different teams last season. However, he is only 32, and he played with LeBron James for four seasons in Cleveland, so the Lakers should have a good idea of what to expect out of him.
Bradley played only 12 games as a member of the Bulls this season, and he rarely saw the floor during those minutes. His playing time has been limited in general over the past few years, and he's never played more than 18 minutes per game. Of course, the Lakers aren't looking for much more than that. Bradley's 7-5 wingspan makes him an imposing rim-protector.
Ideally, the Lakers will get healthy quickly enough not to need any more size for the stretch run. The reality of their roster at the moment is that they are thin and only one injury away from desperate. Don't expect either player to earn many minutes if they become Lakers, but Darvin Ham needs at least one more body at his disposal for the final three weeks of the season.
