Following their trade of Anthony Davis and their decision to void a deadline deal for Mark Williams, the Lakers knew for months that a lack of frontcourt depth was a problem. That issue came to the forefront in Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, as Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves dominated Los Angeles on the boards and in the paint en route to the victory that ended the Lakers’ season.
On Thursday, in his end-of-season press conference, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka acknowledged that the team has work to do up front this offseason, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.
“I think when you make a huge trade at the deadline where you trade your starting center for a point guard, of course that’s going to create significant issues with the roster, and we saw some of those play out,” Pelinka said. “We know this offseason, one of our primary goals is going to be to add size in our frontcourt at the center position. That’s going to be part of the equation. We know we have a lot of work to do on the roster, and it will look different next year, for sure.”
The Lakers thought they had acquired their center of the future on February 6 when they struck a deal to send Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a future first-round pick, and a pick swap to Charlotte in exchange for Williams. Two days later, however, word broke that the Lakers were voiding the deal to concerns about Williams’ physical. Sources tell Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times that Los Angeles’ front office made that decision due to “knee and lower leg concerns.”
While NBA rules prevent Pelinka from discussing Williams specifically, he admitted that the 11th-hour nature of that deal left the Lakers in a tough spot — once the trade deadline had passed, the team only had the ability to void or move forward with the trade, as opposed to potentially renegotiating it or making a move for another center.
“It’s very clear and it was clear then … this roster needs more size and needs a center,” Pelinka said. “That’s a very clear and obvious byproduct of trading potentially the best big in the league to Dallas to get a point guard. Of course, that’s going to open up a huge hole. The trade deadline and the moments up to it don’t allow you the requisite time to explore every single unturned stone to add a big to our roster. We just didn’t have the time after the Luka trade. But now we do.”
New Lakers franchise player Luka Doncic thrived in Dallas playing alongside a pair of rim-running lob threats in Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford. Pelinka confirmed that’s the sort of center L.A. will likely be seeking this summer, though he added that the club is willing to be flexible in the options it considers.
“I think in terms of center traits, it would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively. I think those would be keys,” he said, according to Woike. “But there’s multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. So I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”
Given their salary cap situation, the Lakers may have a hard time finding a starting center in free agency, as Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic observe. Barring significant roster changes, the team will likely be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception, which would almost certainly make it impossible to land a player like Myles Turner. That means L.A. is more likely to return to the trade market in search of an answer in the middle.
Nic Claxton of the Nets will likely be one name linked to the Lakers in the coming weeks and months, Woike writes. As Buha and Amick write, Jazz center Walker Kessler and Trail Blazers center Robert Williams are among the other possible trade targets who have been connected to the Lakers in the past year, while Clint Capela, Steven Adams, and Brook Lopez are among the veteran options headed for free agency who are unlikely to be as expensive as Turner.
During his final media session of the season, Pelinka made it clear that there are at least three players on the roster whom he has no interest in parting with in any deal for a center.
“The level of confidence in Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Luka Doncic is at an all-time high still,” he said, per McMenamin. “I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together. And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they’re surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success.”
James expressed some uncertainty about his future in the wake of Wednesday’s Game 5 loss, but the expectation at this point is that he’ll likely return to the Lakers for at least one more season. Pelinka told reporters on Thursday that he’s well aware LeBron will be monitoring the team’s roster moves as he weighs his own options.
“I think LeBron’s going to have high expectations for the roster,” Pelinka said. “And we’re going to do everything we can to meet those. But I also know that whatever it is, he’s still going to give his 110 percent every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s always going to be 100 percent, and that never wavers.”
They likely get Clint Capella….
Who the Hawks lost trust in…
That Knecht hype trained derailed big time during his rookie year. His defense was so bad the lakers refused to play him after the trade was voided, dude played 4mins total in playoffs(5 games)
It’s mostly that Gabe Vincent got healthy.
He will end up being a bench player who is a 3 pt specialist. Rob now regrets voiding that trade.
I heard a rumor pelinka offered a 2031 2nd rd pick and a 12 pack of coors light for giannis & bucks are considering it. Stay tuned
What’s the protection on the coors light?
Robert Willams on the bingo card stamped, lets get that one out of the way early
The expiring’s, Knecht, and 2031 1st isn’t enough to land a gamechanger
Reaves enters the frame now for better or worse
How about a different Portland center?Vanderbilt, Vincent and Kleber for Ayton? He’s not a spectacular rim protector but he’s solid. Shouldn’t take much to get the trade done. Clingan is the Blazers center going forward. He’ll also be in a contract year so best case scenario he has a solid season and resigns at a decent rate. Worst case? Vanderbilt is off the cap sheet.
Ayton is an abominable fit with Luka and LeBron. They need a vertical lob threat or 3 & D big, not a post up mid range shooter.
It’s a little late in the meta for Zydrunas Ilgauskas to be walking through that door.
Yeah it’s obvious that teams are going to wait out the Lakers until they flinch on Reaves.
Nets will even add a 1st to Clax to come away with Reaves.
Let’s be honest
3 teams are not supposed to talk about championships during many summers
Lakers
Suns
76ers
They do have the best talents (super teams?) but they go down ugly
@Sill
They just won 50 hand without a center for two months and both LBJ and Luka dealing with injuries. A good off-season could change things. I don’t think they need a superstar. just a big that can defend the post, run the floor and catch lobs.
Ayton would work well here, or possibly one of the Dallas bigs in case Nico is feeling lucky and lightning strikes twice
Gafford would make sense but do think You think Nico would have the guts to make a trade with the Lakers again?
The media can bring up Claxton’s name, but he almost certainly won’t be available. It would take BKN deciding to move to a long-term tank mode, or drafting the Duke C, or the player requesting a trade; none of those are very likely. Even then, the number of teams interested in Claxton would create a market well north of where the LAL want to go.
Brook Lopez seems like a lock.
Luke Kornet. He will be relatively cheap. Boston is stuck and probably cannot pay him much and Kornet is not a ball dominant player. Luka can lob to him, and he is great at offensive rebounding and pass out to 3 pt shooters like Tatum and White. He is better in half court with Luka than a running type of team. He is a solid FT shooter and plays pretty good defense.
Celtics only chance of resigning him is they move Jrue Holliday. Which is probably inevitable anyways but, it will be hard to give Kornet market value.