Report: Lakers to make Timofey Mozgov healthy scratch for remainder of season
It’s hard to cut your losses on a $64 million investment, but that’s exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers have decided to do.
According to a report by Marc J. Spears of ESPN’s The Undefeated on Tuesday, the Lakers will shut down a healthy Timofey Mozgov for the remainder of the season to get a better look at their younger players.
Mozgov’s four-year, $64 million deal looked like a gross overpay when the Lakers gave it to him over the summer, and he resoundingly confirmed it with his averages of 7.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks per game this season.
The 30-year-old big man has slipped out of the rotation completely in recent weeks, appearing in just one of the Lakers’ nine games since the All-Star break and seeing his spot in the starting lineup supplanted by a combination of 25-year-old Tarik Black and 19-year-old rookie Ivica Zubac (who had a career night against the Denver Nuggets on Monday with 25 points and 11 rebounds). Now Mozgov’s healthy shutdown is just the latest indication that the Lakers are pursuing a full-fledged youth movement under their new dynamic duo in the front office of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka.
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