Report: Lakers had interest in Meyers Leonard before he signed with Bucks for rest of season

The Los Angeles Lakers have been rather thin in the frontcourt lately, and they seem to be considering signing a big man for the rest of the season.

According to a recent report, one player that the team had its eyes on was Meyers Leonard. Leonard had worked out with the Lakers back in January.

Unfortunately for L.A., Leonard recently agreed to remain with the Milwaukee Bucks for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign.

“The Lakers had an interest in signing Meyers Leonard, whom they worked out on Jan 13., before he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks for the rest of the season, according to league sources who were not authorized to speak on potential signings,” Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported.

Leonard has been playing few minutes with the Bucks and is currently averaging 4.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in six appearances.

Surely, the Lakers thought they had solved their depth issue in the frontcourt when they traded for Mo Bamba prior to the trade deadline back in February. Unfortunately, he went down with an injury shortly after making his debut for the team and has been out of the lineup since.

The lack of bodies in the frontcourt has been especially noticeable when Anthony Davis has been out of the lineup. That was the case when the Lakers lost to the lowly Houston Rockets, 114-110, last week.

Of course, the biggest absence in the Lakers rotation recently has been that of LeBron James. He’s been out of the lineup since late February. If he were healthy, it’s likely that the lack of depth in the frontcourt would be less of an issue. James tends to give his team a major advantage whenever he’s on the floor.

However, with him currently sidelined, the Lakers have had to rely on role players up and down the roster in order to win games. That strategy has come with mixed results, and the Lakers are just 6-4 over their last 10 games. That kind of success rate is not going to cut if the Lakers want to solidify a spot in the play-in tournament.

Right now, they’d be the last team out of the play-in tournament, sitting at the No. 11 seed. A win on Wednesday night against the short-handed Phoenix Suns would definitely be a step in the right direction for the Lakers.