"More injury prone than Anthony Davis" - NBA fans erupt as Lakers emerge as frontrunner to land Robert Williams III as backup center for Deandre Ayton

The Lakers landed Deandre Ayton on July 6 to fill their vacant center position. However, Ayton won't be enough to last a full game for the Purple and Gold, so now, LA is reportedly looking to bring in Robert Williams III as a backup option for their main big man.

BetUS NBA broke the news on X Friday. However, fans were not happy with this decision. They swarmed the comments section of the post with many fans discussing the poor conditioning of the Blazers' big man.

One fan compared Williams to former Lakers star Anthony Davis in terms of their history with injuries.

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"More injury prone than AD they should steer away from him," the fan commented. "If he wasn’t so injury prone," another fan said. "Mr injury himself," another fan said. "Just got Smart, we don’t need another injury prone guy," another fan said.

Another set of fans asked Austin Reaves to be packaged as part of this trade.

"Robert Williams and Jrue Holiday in a package deal for Austin Reaves and bench players," one fan said. "If we send Reaves and Knecht it would be the happiest day of my life," another fan said.

The news about the Lakers acquiring Williams is allegedly still in its initial stages. There has been no confirmation or announcement from the teams involved yet.

Shaquille O'Neal points out one key piece the Lakers are missing ahead of the new season

The Lakers stunned everyone when they jumped to the top five teams in the West standings after acquiring Luka Doncic in a surprising trade. This sudden boost in performance gave the fans some hope for a better offseason. However, the Timberwolves sent the Purple and Gold packing in the first round with a 4-1 record.

Following their playoff exit, the Lakers addressed a major roster gap by signing Deandre Ayton to anchor the paint. Despite this, however, Shaquille O'Neal remains skeptical of this roster with Ayton, LeBron James and Doncic.

In an exclusive interview with Casino Beat on July 17, the Hall of Famer highlighted the one key piece the Lakers are missing ahead of the new season.

"They have a legitimate big now, got two premier players,” Shaq said. “I’m still worried about the shooting. It’s a 3-point league now. Not guys that can shoot, bonafide shooters. Guys that are guaranteed, like JJ Reddick. He was a bonafide shooter. They got the point guard, got the off-guard, got a legitimate center. Their chances are much better now."

Shaq's words make sense as the NBA has evolved over the years, and the 3-point shot holds more value than ever. While Austin Reaves has proven himself to fill in the role of a shooter for the Lakers during the regular season, he was like a ghost in the postseason.

LA now has to look for another shooter before the deadline or put their trust in Reaves to improve and be consistent during the postseason.

Edited by Alvin Amansec