Lakers Rumors: Anthony Davis 'Had a Big Say' in Dwight Howard Signing

Anthony Davis' desire to avoid playing center on a full-time basis was reportedly a major factor in the Los Angeles Lakers' decision to sign Dwight Howard.

On Friday, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne provided background information about the addition of Howard during an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show (via Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll):

"The reason that Dwight is a Laker is because Anthony Davis doesn't want to play the five. He doesn't want to play against the big centers in the Western Conference. He needs a big dude next to him that can eat up some of those minutes and take some of that physical pounding from Nikola Jokic or (Jusuf) Nurkic or any of the centers you want to name out West. ... Anthony Davis doesn't want to be that guy, and so he had a big say in whether or not Dwight was going to be cast in this role for them."

The Lakers are likely going to experiment with a multitude of different lineup options during the regular season, especially since Davis and LeBron James will probably sit out a handful of games apiece as part of the growing "load management" trend around the NBA.

James, who has traditionally played small forward, is in line to see ample time running the point over the likes of Quinn Cook, Alex Caruso and Rajon Rondo.

L.A.'s best five (from 5 to 1) on paper is James, Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Davis, but the latter's intent on not playing too many minutes as a traditional center will likely limit the amount of time that group spends on the floor together.

So the Lakers brought back Howard, who previously played for the Lakers during the 2012-13 campaign, to pair with JaVale McGee at center.

That combination likely won't be able to match the production DeMarcus Cousins, who suffered a torn ACL during an offseason workout, would have provided if back to full strength, but it shouldn't prevent the Lakers from ending their six-year playoff drought.