The Los Angeles Lakers need a starting center. After trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, they had a major gap in their frontcourt. That’s why Lakers trade rumors are connecting the team to a long list of big men who could help the team next season.
Dan Favale of Bleacher Report recently wrote about one his Lakers predictions for this offseason
“Everybody knows the Los Angeles Lakers need centers. Plural. The mini mid-level exception of $5.7 million might get them one, but a bigger splash will require taking to the trade market, where they can dangle Dalton Knecht, short-term salary, one first-round pick (2031) and up to four swaps (2026, 2028, 2030, 2032).
This inevitable search will lead them to someone alongside whom Luka Dončić has already played. Don’t ask me who, specifically. But it will be one of Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II or Kristaps Porziņģis,” wrote Favale.
This is quite the prediction. Not only is Favale predicting that the Lakers will send their last trade assets for a center, but also that one of those centers will be one of Luka’s former teammates.
The Lakers aren’t going to be able to pry Lively from the Mavericks. Gafford and Porziņģis are more realistic Lakers trade targets, but even still, they seem unlikely.
After the response to the Luka trade, the Mavericks probably aren’t dying to make another trade with the Lakers. The Celtics probably don’t want to help out their long-time rival either. They also may want more than the Lakers can offer them.
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So don’t expect this Lakers prediction to happen. The Lakers will definitely be pursuing a center this offseason, but Gafford, Lively, and Porziņģis are long-shot targets.
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