Four games into the 2026-27 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s quickly becoming clear that Kevon Looney is not the backup center the team hoped for when he signed this offseason. With that, the front office reportedly has been, and is expected to continue, searching for other replacements, either through free agency or the trade market.
The Lakers have Walker Kessler as the starting center, but outside of him, Looney hasn’t done a solid enough job, and Sandro Mamukelashvili isn’t a true big man who offers the defensive and rebounding help the team needs.
Going forward, the Lakers might be forced to cut ties with either AK Okereke or Arthur Kaluma, both of whom are on two-way contracts, to make room on the roster for a new backup center.
Lakers Could Cut Ties With Young Players For Backup Center
After what Looney’s shown this season (more on him in a minute), it’s now obvious the Lakers could use a different backup center option in the form of a seven-footer who can at least offer some of the rebounding and rim protection to play behind Kessler when he’s on the bench.
As Svyatoslav Rovenchuk wrote, it’s clearly not Looney, despite the three-time NBA champion arriving in free agency, expected to play that role, while the other options on the roster likely aren’t enough to fill the hole in the rotation.
“Another Los Angeles Lakers game, another example of the Kevon Looney minutes being dreadful for the team,” he wrote.
“The problem with that is the lack of alternatives. Featuring Sandro Mamukelashvili more at the five feels like the obvious out, but the Lakers may be waiting for the added reinforcements of Adou Thiero at the forward spots to fully embrace doing only that. Even then, there are just going to be times when Los Angeles needs a true center out there who is not Walker Kessler.”
With that, cutting ties with either Okereke or Kaluma might be the best option for the Lakers to add another backup center on a two-way deal.
“If Pelinka and the scouting team can identify a center on the outskirts of the NBA who would be two-way eligible and is ready to contribute, that is a risk worth taking. That is still true even if it meant giving up on one of their current guys signed to a two-way deal. The question is who,” Rovenchuk added.
“If Redick continues to be insistent on featuring Looney and the veteran center keeps failing him, one of those two-way guys could easily find their job in jeopardy in the near future. Finding help in the frontcourt on a low-commitment deal can quickly become a high priority in Los Angeles.”
There are not a lot of top options available in free agency who could sign a two-way contract, as that’s only available for players with three or fewer seasons of NBA experience.
Names on the edge of their team’s rotations, like Moussa Cisse and Jericho Sims, have been mentioned as top Lakers trade targets, but that would mean someone else on the roster would have to go.
Adding a center on a two-way contract is likely the best direction for the Lakers to take right now, assuming a risky trade isn’t in the cards, and if that does happen, either Okereke or Kaluma will be the unfortunate casualties of that decision.
Kevon Looney So Far This Season In Los Angeles
As Rovenchuk mentioned, and as has been evident through the Lakers’ first four games of the year, Looney hasn’t been the fix to the team’s backup big man issue.
Through the first three games of the season, he played an average of eight minutes, scoring a total of eight points and grabbing eight rebounds.
In the Lakers’ first loss of the year to the Portland Trail Blazers, he was even worse, doing almost nothing in the five minutes of action he saw.
“In the five minutes Looney played during the second quarter, the Lakers center posted a nothing burger apart from two personal fouls. It resulted in his brief time on the floor featuring a plus-minus of -8. At some point, you have to wonder when JJ Redick finally pulls the plug on playing him,” Rovenchuk discussed.
Looney’s resume is solid, but at this point of his career, he isn’t the type of player the Lakers need. His statistics have dropped over the past few years, and so far this season, he’s played the least amount of minutes per game since his rookie year.
Perhaps one of the Lakers’ trade targets could become available, but if not, based on what Looney has shown so far, his poor play could result in either Okereke or Kaluma being off the roster soon.
The Lakers need someone to play in the frontcourt when Kessler is out, and right now, they don’t have that type of player, meaning a roster change could come at some point in the near future.
Lakers Could Cut Ties With Young Players For New Backup Center