Lakers Showing Interest in Luka Doncic’s Favorite Mavericks Teammate

With the Los Angeles Lakers looking for a center during the offseason, there have been multiple names that have popped up. 

According to a recent report from Evan Sidery of Forbes Sports, the two common Lakers targets continue to be Daniel Gafford of the Dallas Mavericks and Nic Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets.

“The Lakers are targeting an athletic rim-running big man,” Sidery posted to X.

“After the voided trade for (Charlotte Hornets center) Mark Williams, two names to keep a close eye on this summer are (Brooklyn Nets’) Nic Claxton and (Dallas Mavericks’) Daniel Gafford. Brooklyn has been open to moving Claxton, while Gafford is seeking an extension with a pay raise.”

Two Great Fits

Claxton and Gafford would be excellent additions for the Los Angeles Lakers. Claxton, a very athletic center, averaged 10.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and blocked 1.4 shots per game.

The 26-year-old has faced some struggles throughout his NBA career, but he’s been a very steady player in recent years, consistently performing at a high level. 

The Lakers would be able to utilize him in the pick-and-roll with Luka Doncic, opening up something that their offense lacked a year ago. 

Regarding Gafford, he’s already played with Doncic, which the Lakers could be interested in adding. 

According to Dan Woike of the LA Times, Gafford and Claxton are the two names the Lakers have been linked to most in the pre-stages of the offseason. 

“The team has shown no interest in using Reaves in a trade that nets them anything less than a top-tier big, and there really aren’t any of those available, with the two most common names linked to them in the earliest stages of the offseason — Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton and Dallas’ Daniel Gafford,” he wrote.

Will Either Big Man be Available?

The Los Angeles Lakers will have to hope that the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets make either of them available. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, the Lakers could get lucky with Gafford, who he reported was available at the deadline and could be again this summer.

“The Mavericks quietly sniffed around on the value of Daniel Gafford before this last [trade] deadline,” MacMahon said on the “Hoop Collective” podcast,” it certainly would make sense for them to do that again this summer. Dereck Lively is a year away from getting an extension, Daniel Gafford is entering the final year of his contract, Gafford reasonably and rightfully wants to get starting center money… You can’t have AD on a max, Lively on a big contract, and pay Gafford starting center money.”

Plenty has changed since for the Mavericks, clearly, but the Lakers have a need for a center, and after completing a trade with them last year, perhaps the Mavericks would be interested in doing so again. 

Gafford wants to be paid like a starter eventually, so the Lakers will have to consider that. 

However, he’s only 26 years old and is coming off the season where he averaged 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks.

With his familiarity with the Lakers’ star, it could make sense to give it another chance, considering they found plenty of success together in Dallas.

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