The Los Angeles Lakers have made their offseason plans clear, and that is to find a starting center through a trade or free agency.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic and Los Angeles Times, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka will ‘turn over every stone’ in hopes of finding a big man this summer. Woike reported that Pelinka and the team are focusing on finding someone who can come in to play alongside LeBron James and Luka Doncic next year.
“Pelinka said the Lakers have been ‘super active in calls as they ‘turn over every stone’ in hunt for C. Focus turns from draft to free agency “‘and we won’t rest until we get it right,’” Woike wrote on X.
The Lakers previously made a deal to trade for Mark Williams of the Charlotte Hornets. While the move was expected to go through at the trade deadline, the team rescinded the trade after Williams failed his physical. He is now a member of the Phoenix Suns, making it unlikely he’ll head to Los Angeles.
Lakers Active This Offseason
The Lakers made the massive move to bring in Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, sending out Anthony Davis in the deal. At this point, Davis would be the perfect fit for a team that has minimal rim protection and trouble in the rebounding battle.
While Doncic isn’t a bad consolation prize, they continue to prioritize a big man who can ramp up their defense and provide a lob threat for both Doncic and James. ESPN’s Shams Charania said that the entire NBA is waiting to see what move Los Angeles makes.
“Will it be that route, or will it be the trade route? That’s what everyone in L.A., everyone around the league, is waiting on,” Charania said. “It’s clear their biggest need is at center. Rob Pelinka has spoken about it ad nauseam that they need to find that…Now, will that be in the draft? Will that be in free agency? One thousand percent, that’s the question.”
The Lakers are reportedly interested in nearly every center in the league. Most reports highlight Utah Jazz‘s Walker Kessler as a top option, as well as players like Daniel Gafford on the Mavericks or Nic Claxton on the Brooklyn Nets.
Woike questioned Gafford and Claxton as realistic candidates, but Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake City Tribune hinted that Kessler going to the Lakers isn’t out of the question.
“I think there’s been an offer presented for Walker Kessler,” Larsen said. “Certainly the Lakers have shown significant interest all the way back to the trade deadline, certainly continuing now. Him being their future of the center, giving up multiple picks to get there, that is on the table right now. I don’t know if the Jazz take it, certainly they haven’t so far.”
Lakers Offseason Moves
While the main story continues to circle on Pelinka finding L.A. a top center in the trade market, the Lakers have made multiple offseason moves that could have a major impact on their future.
Namely, it was reported that guard Austin Reaves had declined his $89 million contract extension that would have kept him on the next for the next four seasons. Instead, the 20-point-per-game scorer will be a free agent after the 2025-26 season. His name has been floated in trade rumors, but earlier in the summer, the 27-year-old said that he didn’t ‘pay attention to the noise’ in the offseason.
Most recently, the Lakers added Adou Thiero with the 36th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft. They originally held the 55th pick, but after two trades, they jumped 19 spots to take the 21-year-old from the University of Kentucky.
Thiero was called ‘one of the best athletes and defenders in this (draft) class‘, and the Lakers are hoping he comes in to fix some of their main concerns. While he isn’t that big man that they have been desperately searching for, Woike said that Pelinka and the team had a ‘first-round grade’ on Thiero, which is why they traded up to select him.
After the draft, the Lakers also signed Eric Dixon to a two-way contract after he was the highest-scorer in college basketball last season.
The Lakers expect to make an offseason trade, but the timing and target of the deal remain uncertain. Woike maintains that finding a center will be their top priority, with Pelinka reportedly saying, “We won’t rest until we get it right.”
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