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20 hours ago
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Lakers have reportedly made trade offer for Walker Kessler
There have been rumors connecting Jazz center Walker Kessler with the Lakers for quite some time. At the trade deadline, the chatter was at an all-time high, but once Los Angeles traded for Luka Dončić, Kessler was no longer mentioned as a target for the Lakers. Advertisement With the offseason here and L.A. still in desperate need of an upgrade at the five, the Lakers have reportedly remained interested in Kessler. In the latest episode of 'Locked on Jazz,' Utah beat writer Andy Larsen mentioned the Lakers making a trade offer for Kessler. 'I think there's been an offer presented for Walker Kessler. And, certainly the Lakers have shown significant interest all the way back to the deadline, certainly continuing now. And 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.' While there appears to be an offer on the table for Kessler by the Lakers, no need to Photoshop him in a purple and gold uniform just yet. Larsen later took to social media to clarify his comments further, stating that nothing has progressed to the serious stages of negotiation. The Lakers making trade offers proves they are serious about acquiring Kessler. Advertisement It demonstrates that the President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka, is holding true to his word regarding leaving 'no stone unturned' as he looks for ways to upgrade L.A.'s frontcourt. It seems a deal is still far from a foregone conclusion, but having these negotiations is certainly a step towards making a trade happen. The reason Kessler remains an intriguing option for the Lakers is that he is a young center already showing promise and has an unknown ceiling. In his three NBA seasons, Kessler has proven to be an elite shot-blocker, all-around rim protector and offensive producer. Kessler was second-best in the league in rejections, averaging 2.4 a game. Only Victor Wembanyama had more blocks this season. Advertisement He has also improved each year he's been in Utah. This past season, Kessler averaged a double-double with 11.1 points and 12.2 rebounds while playing in 58 games for the Jazz. Given that Kessler is still on his rookie contract and set to make $4.8 million this year, the Lakers won't have trouble matching salaries to trade for him. However, the Jazz will certainly want as many picks as possible to give up a big with such a high upside, especially since they are right in the middle of a rebuild. We'll see if talks accelerate any further and if the Lakers have enough draft picks to entice the Jazz to make a move. Advertisement You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ More from
Yahoo
a day ago
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Lakers Predicted to Make Major Offseason Roster Upgrade After $10 Billion Sale: Report
Lakers Predicted to Make Major Offseason Roster Upgrade After $10 Billion Sale: Report originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Los Angeles Lakers aren't done making headlines. That's the main takeaway from an NBA team that has enjoyed one of the most active years so far. Advertisement After flipping 10-time All-Star center Anthony Davis — who was the second-best player on L.A.'s latest championship team, in 2020 — 3-and-D shooting guard Max Christie, and a 2029 first round draft pick to the Dallas Mavericks for five-time All-NBA First Teamer Luka Doncic, center/power forward Maxi Kleber, and combo forward Markieff Morris, Los Angeles totally reset its title window. Doncic was fresh off bringing the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals at the time, and though he was somewhat limited by a calf injury, he was still an exciting force, helping the Lakers finish with a 50-32 record and the Western Conference's No. 3 seed. Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka speaks before a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Mio-Imagn Images Still, the Lakers were exposed in the West playoffs, falling to the lower-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in a five-game first round series. Advertisement During a recent appearance on ESPN's "Get Up" morning show, NBA insider Brian Windhorst (hat tip to @LakersBetter) revealed that Los Angeles is expected to make a huge personnel change following the Buss family's reported $10 billion sale of the franchise to Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter. 'The market right now doesn't look super available for centers, but things are going to be changing over the next couple of weeks, and I do expect them, at some point, to make a significant move," Windhorst said. "They have some ammunition, both in tradeable contracts and draft capital—capital that they used to try to get Mark Williams until they rescinded that trade back in February. So they've shown interest in trying to be aggressive.' Beyond Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner, currently starring in the NBA Finals, the free agent centers available are all somewhat limited. Players like Brook Lopez and Clint Capela could likely be had for the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception. Advertisement Los Angeles has slowly rebuilt its draft equity now, and to Windhorst's point boasts multiple movable mid-tier contracts (plus one intriguing young player in 2024-25 rookie wing Dalton Knecht, who was a key piece in the scuttled Williams deal with the Charlotte Hornets) it could attach in a deal for a seasoned center. The Lakers need to shore up their frontcourt, especially defensively, if they hope to compete against the Oklahoma City Thunders and Denver Nuggets of the world. Related: Buss Family Selling Lakers Ownership Stake: Report This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
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Lakers Predicted to Sign 31-Year-Old Center This Offseason
Lakers Predicted to Sign 31-Year-Old Center This Offseason originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Los Angeles Lakers need to acquire a center this offseason for All-Stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James after trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Doncic in February. Advertisement Lakers head coach JJ Redick started Jaxson Hayes at center after the Davis-Doncic trade. However, the Duke product benched the former New Orleans Pelicans big man in the second half of Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the whole of Game 5. The Lakers lost to the Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 playoffs in five games. During his end-of-the-season press conference, Rob Pelinka told local reporters that he would try acquiring a center this offseason, and one NBA analyst predicts that the Lakers will sign a 31-year-old veteran in free agency. The Lakers have been predicted to sign Clint Capela this summer. © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report predicted the Lakers will sign Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela, who will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Advertisement Capela is not expected to return to the Hawks. "Prediction: Capela may be a stopgap for the Los Angeles Lakers via the TMLE (Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception)," Pincus wrote. Capela played in 55 games for Atlanta this season. He averaged 8.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 55.9% from the field and 53.6% from the free-throw line. Doncic and James are two of the best passers in the NBA. Capela, who has thrived playing with James Harden and Trae Young, would likely get easy baskets at the rim all season playing with Doncic and James on the Lakers. Capela has played for the Houston Rockets and Hawks. He has career averages of 12.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 664 NBA games. Related: LeBron James Breaks Down JJ Redick's Rookie Season as Lakers Head Coach This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
4 days ago
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Bill Simmons Sarcastically Predicts Lakers-Grizzlies Blockbuster Trade
Bill Simmons Sarcastically Predicts Lakers-Grizzlies Blockbuster Trade originally appeared on Fadeaway World. The Memphis Grizzlies surprised the basketball world by trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic on Sunday. While there is no word yet about the Grizzlies entering a full rebuild, The Ringer's Bill Simmons sarcastically predicted they'll next trade Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Los Angeles Lakers for a laughable haul. Advertisement "Now watch [Rob] Pelinka trade Rui [Hachimura] and a 2032 1st for Jaren Jackson." The Grizzlies would never do this trade, of course. Then again, though, we'd have said the same about the Luka Doncic trade, which is what Simmons was referring to here. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka managed to acquire Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks for a surprisingly underwhelming package. The Lakers only had to send Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick to the Mavericks. That was nowhere near enough for a player of Doncic's caliber. The fact that the Lakers didn't have to give up their 2031 first-round pick and a promising young talent like Dalton Knecht in this deal, either, was shocking. Advertisement Even if Knecht and that pick had been included, many would have still considered this to be a terrible trade for the Mavericks. You just don't trade a generational talent like Doncic, especially when he didn't want to leave. Simmons admitted that as a Lakers hater, he was frustrated by the trade and what it meant for the future. That package for Doncic was so underwhelming that it's being claimed that the Grizzlies got more for Bane. The package the Magic sent included Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, the 16th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns' 2026 first-round pick, their 2028 and 2030 first-round picks, and a first-round pick swap in 2029. Now, Davis is a far better player than Caldwell-Pope and Anthony. He is the most valuable asset by far when you compare the two packages, so it might not be all that accurate to suggest the Grizzlies got more for Bane. Getting back to Jackson, he would be a good addition to the Lakers, provided they don't have to give up too much. The 25-year-old averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game for the Grizzlies in 2024-25. Advertisement The Lakers have been urged to acquire Jackson, as he is the kind of anchor on defense that the team needs. He won DPOY in 2023 and was in the running for the award at one point this season as well. Bill Simmons Dismissed Suggestions That The Magic Gave Up Too Much For Desmond Bane While Simmons didn't like the Doncic trade, he did like this one. He also dismissed any suggestions that the Magic overpaid for Bane on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast. 'That's just people that don't watch basketball," Simmons stated. "I would do this in a heartbeat. It's three non-lottery picks, the 16th pick this year, and the Phoenix pick, which is the prize.' Advertisement You would think the Magic would be a pretty good team for a while with a core of Bane, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs. Those 2028 and 2030 picks could well end up falling outside the lottery. If the Suns don't completely fall apart next season, either, then that 2026 pick wouldn't be an incredible one, too. Related: Grade The Trade: Who Won The Deal That Sent Desmond Bane To Orlando Magic? This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
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Sources: Lakers' likeliest strategy to fixing center problem
The post Sources: Lakers' likeliest strategy to fixing center problem appeared first on ClutchPoints. Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers know they need at least one center. Such is agreed upon unanimously across the organization. That said, the path to filling that gaping hole in the roster is up for quite a bit more debate internally. According to sources close to the team, it's widely accepted they'll need to trade for their likely starting center. Where the front office is more split on is what to do with their taxpayer mid-level exception – their only means of paying a free agent more than the veteran's minimum. Advertisement For just a brief moment after the Luka Doncic trade, the Lakers looked like they might have just enough at center to get by. Jaxson Hayes was playing some of the best basketball of his career, LeBron James turned himself into a Draymond Green-type presence at center when they went small, and they appeared to have options if they so chose, with Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III waiting to be converted. Then, reality struck. It turns out, Hayes is not an NBA-caliber starting center. JJ Redick didn't feel comfortable playing him any minutes in their final game of the season. James did play some center and fared ok. Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt also spent time at that position with mixed results, too. Rob Pelinka opted not to convert Koloko or Jemison after signing Alex Len, who played a total of four minutes in that first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. When asked why he stuck with Len rather than converting either two-way player – and to be clear, both Koloko and Jemison helped the Lakers a lot more than Len last year – Pelinka bristled, which some might take for acknowledgment that it was a poor decision. In the end, the Lakers entered their first postseason of the Doncic era essentially center-less against one of the biggest frontcourts in the league and were dominated physically. They know they absolutely cannot do that again, especially as they try to convince Doncic to ink a long-term extension this summer. Advertisement Veteran minimum contracts range anywhere from $1.2-$3.6 million, depending on experience. It's simply unrealistic to even hope to land a starter at that rate. The Lakers watched that movie last year after trading away Anthony Davis and weren't fans. The taxpayer mid-level exception will sit at $5.7 million next season. This is also well below a starting center's expected salary. Sure, maybe the Lakers could find a spot starter at that rate, but going into the offseason, banking on it would be a mistake. This leaves the trade market as the only viable means to bring in the starter they need and, again, team sources indicate they're prepared to head down that path. Where the Lakers remain split internally is whether or not to double down on the center position using the only tool by which they can pay a free agent more than the minimum. League sources anticipate yet another tough market for free agents this summer, but it's not so dry that Steven Adams will be available to the Lakers, let alone Myles Turner or Naz Reid. Clint Capela is considered within reach at $5.7 million and, as such, is expected to sit pretty high on the Lakers' target board. Advertisement The Lakers could also target Kevon Looney using their taxpayer mid-level exception, but if he was going to accept that contract, he'd likely get it from the Golden State Warriors, sources say. Al Horford had a really good season given his age, and the Boston Celtics are going to be looking to shed salary, so he could also be an option if the Lakers want to double the number of 40+ year-olds on the roster. If it's Capela, Horford, Looney, or Adams, then league sources do believe the Lakers would utilize their taxpayer mid-level exception on a center even after trading for their starter. There are plenty within the organization pushing for this outcome, sources say. That said, there are others who point to Doncic, James, Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, and Jarred Vanderbilt as too much frontcourt spending. So, one thing to look for, potentially – especially if the Lakers use their taxpayer mid-level exception on a big – is a trade where the Lakers send out a mid-tier expiring salary to bring in a more productive perimeter player. This would obviously come after the trade for their starting center, so as to know which salaries they'll need for that deal, but balancing the roster should be a priority this summer. First things first, though, Pelinka will need to find a center who helps convince Doncic to stick around long-term. By all accounts, Doncic is seen as a loyal guy who was ready to spend his entire career in Dallas before they traded him, so most people around the league anticipate that he will stay in LA for a while, but this isn't the kind of situation the Lakers can leave to chance. Related: NBA rumors: Lakers insider reveals why trade for Jazz star is unlikely Related: Giannis Antetokounmpo sounds off on LeBron James' 'no bag' mic drop
