Ranking Lakers' best center trade targets to satisfy Anthony Davis

01/24/2025 05:38 PM

For the first time in his Los Angeles Lakers tenure, Anthony Davis is letting his voice be heard and publicly demanding something of his front office. Before Thursday’s beatdown of the Boston Celtics, Davis sat down with Shams Charania of ESPN for a one-on-one in which he called for Rob Pelinka to add a center and move him to power forward. After the game, he said he’s been making that request for four years.

Sources close to the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say the Lakers have heard him loud and clear and plan to add a center before the trade deadline in less than two weeks. It’s at the top of their list of priorities, which also includes more perimeter toughness defensively, a guard to help with the second unit, and adding more physicality anywhere they can find it.

The trade market is ripe with potential centers the Lakers could add, so let’s rank them both in terms of the impact they would make, the cost of each addition, and, of course, the likelihood they will be acquired to satiate Davis’ now very public demand.

Nikola Vucevic, Chicago Bulls

If the Lakers use the necessary draft and contract capital to acquire a player making as much as Vucevic does, that player has to be able to play long minutes alongside Davis without sacrificing anything on either side of the ball. JJ Redick is also a fervent believer in the value of spacing, which means any big the Lakers acquire would have to be able to knock down the occasional jumper.

Now, Vucevic comes with very real defensive concerns. Lineups with him out there and without Davis are going to seriously struggle in the postseason. He’s going to get picked on. The Lakers would hope playing next to Davis would improve Vucevic on that end of the court and his rebounding would be a nice shot in the arm to finish defensive possessions, but this is a real topic of conversation internally. Sources say the organization is split on Vucevic, especially given what is left on his contract after this season (one additional year at roughly $21.5 million).

Landing Vucevic would likely cost Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and at least one second-round pick, maybe two. If the Lakers added a second pick, they could also include, say, Christian Wood’s expiring in hopes that Chicago would add Torrey Craig to their offer to keep some of their wing depth.

My colleague Brett Siegel had a lot of great intel regarding the Lakers’ potential pursuit of Vucevic and even indicated he might be their top trade target.

Jonas Valanciunas, Washington Wizards

Think back to last summer, when reports surfaced LeBron James would be willing to take a pay cut if it helped the Lakers add the following players: James Harden, Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan, and … Jonas Valanciunas? It was head-scratching at the time, but now, given Davis’ willingness to use his voice and the type of player he used it on, everything makes a lot more sense.

Earlier this season, it was considered a matter of when, not if, Valanciunas would be a Laker. Some of that sentiment remains, but sources say the Lakers were not thrilled when the price for Valanciunas was set at multiple second-rounders rather than the one pick they anticipated needing to give up — especially considering his contract, which extends not only into next season but the year after, though that third year is not guaranteed.

Valanciunas checks one very important box for the Lakers: size.

No one can stop Jokic, obviously, but the last two times the Lakers have met him in the postseason, they’ve had Hachimura and James guarding him, with Davis in help. Probably related: they’ve won one game in two series over the last two years.

Valanciunas has all the same defensive concerns Vucevic does, except on the other end, he doesn’t space the floor. Still, he’s been on the Lakers’ radar all season and will remain as such either until he’s on the roster or they elect to nab a different center. The price to land him is probably Gabe Vincent and a second-rounder. Look for the Lakers to try to include Wood in this deal to both shed salary and open a roster spot.

If the Lakers shed enough salary to dip under the first apron, they would position themselves for any players bought out who entered the season making more than $12.9 million. They’re currently roughly $7.3 million above the first apron, so they’d need to move that much, plus the prorated minimum salary of whoever they’d sign.

Jakob Poeltl, Toronto Raptors

Pelinka and Masai Ujiri love negotiating with each other. Unfortunately, they appear to love negotiating a lot more than they like actually making deals. Still, Poeltl is an extremely solid center who provides the combination of rim protection and offensive steadiness the Lakers are looking for.

At 7-foot, 245 pounds, Poeltl is a big, physical center who would anchor the defense in ways the Lakers haven’t seen consistently from anyone other than Davis since Davis arrived. He also has great touch around the basket and has been solid over the years as a high-post facilitator. The only thing with Poeltl that Redick probably won’t feel great about is that he’s only attempted six 3-pointers over his entire nine-year career.

According to league sources, Toronto loves Poeltl and would even look to extend him over the summer if he isn’t moved. So, it’s going to cost something to land him. Hachimura and Jalen Hood-Schifino work contractually, and then the Lakers would need to add at least one first-rounder and probably more.

Unless Pelinka changes the stance many around the league believe he has on moving firsts, Poeltl is definitely on the Lakers’ radar, but likely too expensive, pick-wise. But hey, perhaps their internal math has changed with Davis applying public pressure.

Robert Williams, Portland Trail Blazers

Over the summer, Pelinka held lengthy negotiations with Blazers GM Joe Cronin for Jerami Grant. Those talks stalled out because Cronin was adamant that he wouldn’t move Grant for anything less than two first-rounders, something the Lakers flat-out wouldn’t even consider. Now, sources say the two have been in contact here and there about Grant (whose price has dropped, just not enough for the Lakers) and also about Williams.

Reports from Portland indicate that they are not interested in moving Williams for just anything, despite drafting Donovan Clingan a few months ago and also employing centers Deandre Ayton and Duop Reath. Portland would much rather move Ayton, but no one is interested in him or his contract, which pays him more than $70 million over this and next season.

Williams is a very different center from the first two listed above. Bringing him in would replicate the kind of defense we saw from Davis in the Olympics, when he was playing next to Bam Adebayo. Or, more specifically to the Lakers, harken back to the 2019-20 championship, when Davis was playing next to Dwight Howard.

Williams is freakishly athletic and can positively suffocate teams at the rim when he’s at his best. The problem is, he’s almost never at his best. Williams’ games played have gone as follows over his seven-year career: 32, 29,52, 61, 35, six, and 16 of the 44 games Portland has played so far this season.

The Lakers are extremely conservative when it comes to acquiring players with injury histories, and, in this case, given that Portland is expecting as much as a first-rounder for Williams, he’s just not an option.

Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz

Find someone who loves you like Lakers Twitter loves Walker Kessler. It’s for good reason, too: Kessler is huge, impacts the game on both ends through skill and physicality, and is young enough to learn how to play alongside Davis for years to come.

But from every conversation I’ve had, he’s not actually available, and he’s especially not an option for the Lakers. As reported after the Lakers traded D’Angelo Russell for Dorian Finney-Smith, Jazz CEO Danny Ainge is reluctant to trade Kessler to the Lakers because of how it might impact LA’s draft capital Utah already holds. As those concerns remain, it remains unlikely Kessler will be made available to the Lakers.

Generally speaking, most around the league don’t believe Kessler is available at all. He’s on a stellar contract and is one of the more productive young centers in the NBA. Tanking or not, that’s not the kind of player you dump for anything other than elite trade packages. For Utah to even consider sending Kessler to L.A., it would likely cost both first-rounders and Dalton Knecht; an offer the Lakers are just not willing to make.

That said, Kessler is young and good enough to fulfill all the requirements the Lakers are looking for to move their first-round draft capital. If they’re serious about improving the team not just now but also moving forward, they need to seriously consider this.

When you consider everything, though, it just doesn’t feel very likely Kessler winds up a Laker.

Lakers Honorable Mentions

• Kelly Olynyk, Toronto: Olynyk is big, physical, can really pass the ball, and can knock down the occasional 3. If the Lakers decide the price on Poeltl is too much, look for them to check in on Olynyk while Pelinka has Ujiri on the phone.
• Wendell Carter Jr., Orlando Magic: According to sources close to the Lakers, they had productive conversations with Orlando over the summer about Carter Jr., but with Mo Wagner out for the season, Orlando doesn’t have the bevy of centers it once that it did and he’s likely not available any longer.
• Day’Ron Sharpe, Brooklyn Nets: From all I can gather, the Lakers like Sharpe quite a bit, but in order to satisfy Davis, they are probably looking for a more proven player.
• Brook Lopez, Milwaukee Bucks: For a wild, quick minute over the summer, the Lopez were seriously considering bringing in Lopez. He wound up re-signing with the Bucks, and Milwaukee seems to be looking to retool, but he’s too big a part of their identity to trade without getting a productive replacement back.
• Jay Huff, Memphis Grizzlies: Wouldn’t that be hilarious, to have had Huff in the organization, never give him a shot, then give up assets to bring him in? You know, like how it’s hilarious when you stub your toe in the presence of people you can’t curse in front of.

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