Tag: Complex

PHILADELPHIA — The pressure, intended or not, is on.

Anthony Davis, in an interview taped with ESPN the day after the Lakers lost to the Clippers, said he thought the team should be active in acquiring a center. The context of the request was more than an ask for more bulk. It was in some ways a call to realign the roster with Davis playing more power forward, an end result that’s growing more unlikely as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches.

Davis suffered an abdominal strain Tuesday and is scheduled to be reevaluated in a week, muddying up the trade waters some. Still, let’s assume that the short timetable is a relatively good sign and that the injury isn’t feared to be serious.

In trying to engineer a trade, the Lakers have at their disposal their 2029 and 2031 first-round draft picks, a 1-4 protection on their 2027 first-round pick and a pair of second-round picks in this year’s draft.

In conversations with executives inside and outside of the organization, it’s become clear that the costs for starting-caliber NBA centers are high — particularly ones good enough to force the Lakers into the kind of seismic change that moving Davis to power forward and LeBron James to small forward would cause.

Take Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl, who is under contract for $19.5 million next season (with a player option at the same number in 2026-27). Poeltl, 29, is a talented center who could be the kind of player the Lakers would target. However, Toronto is rumored to be seeking more than a first-round pick for Poeltl (and perhaps even two). It’s the kind of price the Lakers just wouldn’t pay for a player like him, likely requiring they trade Rui Hachimura and maybe two first-round picks for a center who, ultimately, plays the same position as Davis — only worse.

Other center options, like Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic and Washington’s Jonas Valanciunas, don’t offer the kind of rim protection the Lakers got from JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard during their 2020 NBA title run, the model of basketball Davis would like to replicate.

Valanciunas, a known favorite in important pockets of the Lakers’ locker room, does offer post scoring and could be a boost for their second unit, though playing through a back-to-the-basket center isn’t close to being coach JJ Redick’s stated style.

Atlanta’s Clint Capela is making $22.3 million, and while his contract is expiring, matching the money again would involve the Lakers trading at least one, if not two, pieces of their core for a center whom the Hawks just moved to their bench. The teams haven’t spoken about Capela, according to league executives not authorized to publicly discuss trade targets.

The Lakers have been actively exploring adding a big man, though it’s not being done recklessly, according to NBA executives. Concerns about cost, fitting Redick’s preferred style of play and the ripples from moving Davis — namely playing James major minutes at small forward — are being weighed.

Utah’s Walker Kessler, a perfect fit in terms of rim protection and salary (he’s making less than $3 million), is thought to be completely unavailable in any reasonable trade scenarios, including the Lakers using both first-round picks. Things could change, but costs generally drop only for players teams are willing to trade, not for players they are not.

Another oft-mentioned target, Indiana’s Myles Turner, doesn’t seem like a realistic fit. There’s a real “I’ll believe it when I see it” vibe around the league in regard to his rumored trade availability, as the Pacers continue to play good basketball and their ownership wants to build off last season’s success. Turner, who has been with Indiana his entire career, also has the kind of intangible value to an organization that makes trading him even tougher despite real questions about what Indiana (or anyone) will be willing to pay him this summer as a free agent. The team dangled him in trade talks before and never pulled the trigger, so there’s skepticism among NBA sources that it would go through with it now while winning and making a charge up the standings.

Turner’s also not exactly a Nikola Jokic stopper, the Denver Nuggets most valuable player averaging 25.5 points in 15 career games against Indiana — his second-highest scoring average against any team. While scouts not authorized to speak publicly say Turner’s defensive impact has lagged, he’s shooting nearly 40% from three on more than five attempts per game.

The Lakers might’ve missed an opportunity with Charlotte for center Nick Richards, who ended up in Phoenix. The Suns sent three second-round picks and Josh Okogie for Richards and a low-value second-rounder. The Lakers, strapped for second-round picks, would’ve needed to turn a draft swap or the protection on the 2027 first-rounder into seconds to outbid the Suns.

If the costs are too high for starting centers, the Lakers could look to either upgrade from their backup center, Jaxson Hayes, or augment him by finding a player with greater bulk. Hayes, for his part, has played much better in the last two weeks after shaking off some rust from his extended absences because of ankle injuries. The Lakers adding Trey Jemison III on a two-way contract, an incredibly physical, high-motor player who could be the type the team adds to its bench.

A veteran who would add to the team culture, similar to Tristan Thompson when he signed on the way to the Western Conference finals two years ago, could have real value. Miami’s Kevin Love is one of the few players left in the league with championship ties to James and could fill the role Jared Dudley and Thompson did inside the locker room for James’ best Lakers teams.

Also, viewing Davis’ desires for a center as an absolute must seems like a mistake. The Lakers have known his preferences. They’ve found ways to play Davis and Hayes together for stretches — lineups that have looked good lately — while also finding early success with small-ball lineups with Jarred Vanderbilt and Dorian Finney-Smith playing together in the frontcourt.

A center also is not the Lakers’ lone need. According to players inside the locker room discouraged from publicly discussing trade targets, there’s a desire for more playmaking, a need that’s become clear since the team traded D’Angelo Russell.

Shake Milton, acquired with Finney-Smith in the Russell trade, has struggled off the bench, and the team could look for a more dynamic player to give their backup backcourt more pop alongside Gabe Vincent. The issue, like always, will come down to cost and availability. The Lakers likely would be reluctant to include significant assets for a player who, for instance, couldn’t play in closing lineups alongside Austin Reaves. And dynamic offensive players with size and defensive physicality, well, let’s just say those players are coveted by every team in the NBA and not readily available.

One player who would fit this bill, Chicago’s Lonzo Ball, comes with significant injury concerns but could be an option — though the trade math is sloppy without including both Vincent and Hachimura. And moving two players with years on their deal for an expiring contract likely would mean the Lakers would have to pay more for Ball than he’s worth on the open market.

Indiana guard Bennedict Mathurin is being monitored by nearly every team seen as a buyer at the deadline, according to one scouting executive. But because the Pacers are playing such good basketball, the team is expected to seek a player it values while trying to recoup the first-round pick it spent on Mathurin in a deal.

Washington’s Malcolm Brogdon has big-game experience and, at one point the Virginia Cavaliers alum had a big fan in fellow Atlantic Coast Conference star Redick. Brogdon is rumored to be available for a package of second-round picks.

Other backcourt options similarly come with caveats — either too small, too expensive, unavailable or not good enough. It remains unclear how comfortable the Lakers would be with adding a smaller, score-first guard like Utah’s Colin Sexton considering they traded one of those when they sent out Russell.

There also are the issues with the players the Lakers would need to trade to acquire a player making a significant salary. If Finney-Smith and Vanderbilt were at full health, you could argue the Lakers are maybe a little too crowded in the frontcourt with those two, James and Hachimura. But considering Finney-Smith and Vanderbilt are on minutes restrictions (and James’ age), depth at that position is seen as important. Similarly, during the last month, Vincent has established his value as a hard-nosed defender and an improving shot-maker. And without him, an already thin group of ballhandlers would need real improvement.

In an extended conversation with one Western Conference scout not authorized to publicly discuss his player evaluations, the scout referred to the exercise evaluating the Lakers’ trade options as “spinning our wheels” and noted we spent “30 minutes on the phone and haven’t come up with a good deal.”

None of this is to say the Lakers aren’t willing to trade one of their first-round draft picks or even both of them. But considering that they’re the only first-round picks the team has available, it wants to be prudent in how it uses them.

The desire inside the locker room for the Lakers to do something is real. The Finney-Smith addition, scouts and executives believe, has improved the floor for the Lakers by addressing toughness, defensive and spot-up shooting issues. But holes on the roster remain.

Lakers players are realistic about the number of needs, the lack of options and the expensive costs. Still, they know for the team to level up, front office creativity in a tight market will be crucial during the next week.

It all has the Lakers in a tight spot, the team needing to be aggressive and, perhaps, even overpay to give James the best possible shot at another deep playoff run. At the same time, they also have to be aware of the risks that kind of an investment poses to their post-James plans.