The Lakers Sign Alex Len... And the Hornets Want to Un-Rescind the Mark Williams Trade.

Tuesday afternoon, the Lakers hit the buyout market, signing veteran seven-footer Alex Len, who had been with Sacramento for the last few seasons.
While early in his career after being drafted by the Suns in 2013 Len showed glimpses of promise, for the most part he's been a depth big, bouncing around the league and never really breaking out. He's got a little offensive game, and has had seasons where the defensive metrics look ok (and others where they most certainly do not). But let's be real: Len's primary positive attribute is size. He's an enormous human.
And that's the "skill set" that prompted the Lakers to release Christian Wood to make space for him.
Len is unlikely to play big minutes for LA. He's certainly not going to take a starting position from Jaxson Hayes, who has earned the right to keep his gig and, importantly, is a better player and a better fit with Luka Dončić and LeBron James. What the Len signing says, though, is that the Lakers are moving on from the failed Mark Williams trade-Charlotte is exploring ways to protest the physical results, but as of yet there's no indication it'll actually lead anywhere-and trying to fill out the roster in a logical way.
Len gives the Lakers a big-bodied bruiser to go along with the bouncy-but-lighter Hayes and Christian Koloko, who is cut from a similar mold. He's taller than Trey Jemison III, and has significantly more experience. He's a type as much as a player, and gives JJ Redick another layer of optionality in the roster, particularly in specific matchups against burly fives. And since Wood clearly wasn't coming back anytime soon, it's essentially no harm, no foul.
But don't expect the Lakers to lean into a Hayes/Len rotation. Instead, they're much more likely to "go small," but keep in mind "small" for these Lakers... isn't all that small. The new point guard is 6'6". LeBron and Rui, 6'8". DFS? 6'7". Vando? 6'8". Only one rotation regular (Gabe Vincent) is shorter than Austin Reaves at 6'5". This is not a small group, and that's the identity Redick is almost certainly going to leverage.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers sign Alex Len.
SEGMENT 2: What the Len signing means for how the Lakers will play. Hint... it has little to do with Len. Plus, How about that Jordan Goodwin!?!?!
SEGMENT 3: The Hornets want the league to force the Lakers to take Mark Williams. What a mess.
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