The Los Angeles Lakers have been searching for upgrades in the front-court over the last couple of weeks. They brought in Damian Jones to be a stop-gap at center, but that isn’t a long-term addition. It appears that DeMarcus Cousins could be a potential option for L.A.

According to a report from Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the Lakers are indeed interested in signing Cousins, who was released earlier this year by the Houston Rockets.

“League sources say they have interest in free agent DeMarcus Cousins, but Drummond is their preference if he gets bought out.”

Obviously, Drummond would be the preferred choice for the Lakers. However, there is no guarantee that he will be bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even if he is bought out by the Cavs, there are plenty of other teams who would pursue Drummond.

As for Cousins, he was set to play for the Lakers last season before suffering a season-ending injury. He would make a lot of sense for Los Angeles.

In the 25 games and 11 starts that Cousins had with the Rockets earlier this year, he averaged 9.6 points per game to go along with 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He shot 37.6 percent from the floor overall and knocked down 33.6 percent of his three-point attempts.

Those numbers don’t look great, but the Lakers don’t need him to be a top scoring option. He would simply come in as a role player alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Cousins could be a solid piece off the bench.

At 30 years of age, there is no doubt that DeMarcus Cousins would have interest in signing with the Lakers. They could give him a chance to compete for a championship. That alone would be enough to make him interested.

While there are plenty of other options for the Lakers, Cousins could be a “Plan B” type of scenario. Should they miss out on a guy like Drummond, they could circle back to Cousins.

Expect to hear plenty of rumors come out surrounding the Lakers in the coming days. Rob Pelinka and company are looking to make moves, and Cousins could be in their future plans.