While the Lakers are playing well, that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped considering how to improve their roster through a trade.
Winning six of the first ten games, the Lakers are starting the 2024-25 season well.
Even so, the roster already has some clear weaknesses, particularly in the center position.
Christian Wood is currently recovering from knee surgery and Jaxson Hayes is playing, but the NBA is reopening an investigation into his 2021 domestic violence case.
If Wood is going to miss more time and Hayes ends up suspended, that means the only other big on the roster besides Anthony Davis would be Christian Koloko, who was just cleared to play and is on a two-way deal with the team.
That’s a tough spot to be in at the center position, even with bigs being less important in the modern NBA.
In his latest newsletter, NBA insider Marc Stein discussed the Lakers’ lack of depth at the center position and how they might improve it through a trade.
“PS — On a related topic: My colleague Jake Fischer reported on his weekly Bleacher Report live stream that the Lakers, widely believed to be interested in adding a proven center at some point during the season, have Washington’s Jonas Valanciunas and Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez as potential targets on their ‘internal board.’”
Valančiūnas has been connected with the Lakers for some time now.
He was reportedly the kind of player LeBron James would’ve taken less money for this summer to open up the full midlevel exception.
However, that didn’t happen as Valančiūnas opted to sign a three-year deal in Washington. The contract is team-friendly at $10 million a year, so it’s not impossible to move him and with the Lakers still needing a quality center, this could be a good addition.
As a Wizard, Valančiūnas is averaging 12.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. Even when fully healthy, that kind of production is not currently available on the Lakers’ bench at the center position.
Brook Lopez was a Laker before playing for the team during the 2017-18 season. He was a good stretch five, scoring 13 points per game in the 74 times he suited up for the purple and gold.
His veteran leadership and ability to space the floor could work marvelously in Los Angeles with AD.
With the Milwaukee Bucks losing eight of their first ten games, they may be sellers this season and willing to make a deal. The same can also be said for the Wizards and Valančiūnas, who have only won two games so far.
To make any deal happen will be tricky for the Lakers.
Vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka will have to find a way to remain under the second tax apron. With the roster completely full, he might have to move a couple of players to bring someone in.
These additions would certainly help and given that Los Angeles has gotten off to a good start, they’ve made a case that it’s worth making some deals and going for the title this year.
Don’t expect anything to happen anytime soon, given that the NBA trade deadline isn’t until Feb. 26 and Pelinka has mentioned giving this team 30 games or so to see how close they are to being title contenders.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.