Did the Lakers make a mistake by not converting Trey Jemison’s contract?

A lack of size cost the Lakers in Game 1 against the Timberwolves, but Trey Jemison III won’t be coming to save the day.

When the Lakers rescinded their deal for Mark Williams after the trade deadline, they left themselves woefully short on frontcourt depth. Jaxson Hayes filled in admirably as their stopgap starting center, but their signing of Alex Len didn’t pan out as hoped.

That came back to haunt the Lakers in Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. Rudy Gobert played only 24 minutes and finished with two points and six rebounds, but Naz Reid immolated them with 23 points off the bench (including 6-of-9 shooting from deep). Meanwhile, Hayes and Len combined to play 11 minutes and finished with one point, seven rebounds and zero assists, steals or blocks.

The Lakers tried to go small against Minnesota with a heavy dose of Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith, but Reid routinely punished them for that decision. Jaden McDaniels also torched them with 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds in only 33 minutes, while Julius Randle added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists (albeit along with seven turnovers).

The Lakers could try to keep Hayes on the floor for longer in Game 2, but they otherwise don’t have an obvious quick fix off their bench. Two-way center Trey Jemison III showed promise late in the year, but the Lakers never converted him to a standard contract before the end of the regular season, which means he’s ineligible to play in the playoffs.

That could come back to bite them if they don’t find an answer for the Timberwolves’ size.

The Lakers’ hard-cap issues might have contributed to their decision not to convert Jemison at first. They finished the season only $670,000 below the second apron and they weren’t allowed to exceed that threshold under any circumstances. However, rest-of-season contracts prorate based on how many days are left in the regular season, so they could have converted Jemison late in the year without being at risk of crossing the second apron.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the Lakers also “liked the chemistry” of their roster heading into the playoffs and didn’t want to shake that up by waiving someone to convert Jemison. Perhaps Len is a major boon to the locker room, but he also racked up 11 straight DNPs late in the season. Would waiving him have made that much of a difference from a chemistry perspective?

Granted, the Lakers might have been courting disaster by relying on a two-way player who’s played for four teams in the past two seasons. Then again, if they got him more run late in the regular season, perhaps he’d be better equipped to play a handful of minutes in the playoffs. After all, head coach JJ Redick told reporters in mid-March that Jamison had “really earned the trust of the coaching staff.”

Realistically, the Lakers might just not have any good options here. As soon as they went back on the Williams trade, they effectively guaranteed that frontcourt depth would be a major Achilles’ heel of theirs until the offseason. They just happened to draw an opponent with size galore in the first round of the playoffs.

If the Lakers can flip that on them in Game 2 and small-ball the Timberwolves to death, perhaps Game 1 will wind up being an anomaly. But if the Wolves continue to bully them with their size, the Lakers may rue their decision not to convert Jemison, if only to give themselves another option to try to stem the bleeding.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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