Lakers Eyeing $23 Million Former Champion Center: Report

Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) reacts.

Center remains on top of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ wish list.

Amid the Lakers’ reported interest in trading for Utah Jazz‘s young center Walker Kessler, a former Laker is also on their radar, according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer.

“We talked about the Lakers having interest in Brook Lopez this past summer,” Fischer said on his “NBA Insider Notebook” live stream on Bleacher Report. 

Lopez, 36, is on an expiring $23 million salary this season.

The Lakers could theoretically put together a trade package headlined by D’Angelo Russell‘s $18.6 million expiring salary plus Jalen Hood-Schifino, a pick and another salary filler like Jaxson Hayes ($2.4 million)

Brook Lopez Could Be Lakers’ Perfect Complement to Anthony Davis

Lopez is the stretch and bruising big man who, on paper, is the perfect complement to Anthony Davis in the Lakers’ frontcourt.

Lakers coach JJ Redick openly said in the summer that he wanted a bruising center to play next to Anthony Davis to counter the elite big men in the Western Conference.

Lopez’s numbers have slipped this season, but he’s still a solid bet to stretch the floor for Davis and LeBron James under Redick’s multi-layered offensive schemes.

The veteran Bucks center is averaging 11.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and the league’s third-best 2.6 blocks through the first five games of the season. His 3-point shooting is at a nine-year low 29.6% clip, but he’s still making 1.6 3-pointers per game.

The 7-foot-1 center played for the Lakers during the 2017-18 season before joining the Bucks and became the stretch, rim-protecting center on a championship team.

But the Bucks are a shell of their 2021 championship team, as they are off to a horrendous 1-4 start.

If they can’t right the ship until the February trade deadline, the Bucks are a team to monitor, according to Fischer, with Lopez, Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton as potential trade candidates.

D’Angelo Russell-led Package Would Not Interest Jazz: Report

While Bovada listed the Lakers as the odds-on favorite at +350 to land Kessler, it is easier to speculate than to execute such a trade when they are dealing with Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, who has earned notoriety for fleecing teams.

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, a potential trade package headlined by the Lakers starting point guard won’t budge the Jazz to send Kessler to Los Angeles.

“While our Jovan Buha recently reported the Lakers have interest in Kessler, a Jazz source indicated the possible framework of a deal — D’Angelo Russell and multiple first-round picks — would not be of interest,” Amick wrote.

Amick noted that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge had a “history of going big, in a variety of ways” when he was in Boston, which he brought with him to Utah.

Ainge was the architect of the Celtics’ 2008 championship when he swung the blockbuster trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Then he ushered in the Celtics rebuild by fleecing the Brooklyn Nets for the picks they used to select Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in exchange for the aging Garnett and Paul Pierce.

In his first two big moves as the Jazz’s top decision-maker, he was able to extract eight first-round draft picks, including Kessler, trading away their former franchise stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.