He won the championship in 2020 with the Lakers, was kicked out of the team & now gets replaced with Jaxson Hayes

The Los Angeles Lakers are going all-in for the 2023-24 season in their pursuit of winning their 18th championship title, and because of that, they want to replicate some of the strategies that worked so well for them in 2020.

Dwight Howard was a key factor for the Purple and Gold to win the 2020 title; he is currently playing in Taiwan but has opened up and stated that he believes that if Pelinka had kept the same roster from 2020 to 2021, the Lakers would have won the back-to-back championship titles.

But Howard was kicked out, and even when he returned for the 2021-22 season, that stint didn't work as well as the 2019-20 championship. But Pelinka signed the young Center Jaxson Hayes to replicate Howard's role in that campaign.

Dwight wanted to return to the NBA and LA specifically, but with Hayes now signed to do what Howard did, it won't be happening, even when Pelinka is still looking to add another big to the roster and the fans want Dwight back.

The Lakers have a promising young center in Colin Castleton

In this 2023 NBA Draft, the Lakers signed a two-way contract and undrafted young Center Colin Castleton, and so far, he showed in the Summer League that he can be the Lakers' future Center.