Approaching the 2026-27 regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers biggest need, by all accounts, is a backup center.
As Lakers reporter Jovan Buha noted, star big man Walker Kessler, the prize of the team’s 2026 offseason, looked incredibly promising in his Lakers preseason debut.
“Takeaway No. 1 is Walker Kessler was everything that he was advertised to be — eleven points, nine rebounds in one half of basketball. The rim-running, the rolling, the offensive rebounds, the rim-protection,” said Lakers journalist Jovan Buha. “The Lakers outscored the Warriors by 15 points with Kessler on the floor in a game they lost by (12) points.
But for the Lakers to get the best out of Kessler throughout the season, they need to acquire someone who can hold down the fort while the 25-year-old center is sitting on the bench. But the question is, will the Lakers make a trade in these final few days before the real games begin?
Why Haven’t Lakers Made a Trade Yet?
After the Lakers acquired Kessler, it was common knowledge that another trade would be hard to come by. The Kessler deal saw the Lakers surrender two first round picks and a pair of first round swaps, leaving them with just a 2032 first round swap and three second round picks to trade. Now, the Lakers must be extremely careful with how they use these picks, whether they attach them to a deal to acquire a player or simply use them in the draft.
According to The Athletic’s Dan Woike, the Lakers have made calls to canvass the league for a backup center, but the asking price, though otherwise modest, is a bit steep for the light-pocketed Lakers.
I haven’t heard a lot of talk about the ‘starting 4’ since the mild Kuminga flirtation. … I think the Lakers have liked how trustworthy (Kevon) Looney is — he’s where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there — but I think they’d like someone more dynamic, especially if they need to play for a stretch without Kessler at some point,” Woike wrote in a Reddit Q&A. “They’ve made calls and checked in on some backup bigs — I wrote about a couple names earlier this summer — but the asks have been multiple seconds at minimum. I don’t think it’d make sense for the Lakers to use a significant chunk of what they have left to trade for a player who would play low minutes and maybe just help them sleep easier at night. I think they’ll, instead, deal with it when they have to.”
Well, that’s not what Lakers fans will like hearing (or reading). The Lakers could take their sweet-ol’ time and wait to address the backup center position around the midseason trade deadline, but the three preseason games the Lakers have played so far have clearly demonstrated that the team will struggle in the minutes Kessler is off the floor.
One of the names Woike wrote about in the offseason was Chicago Bulls center Jalen Smith. The 26-year-old center has been a constant in Lakers trade rumors for months, with Woike’s response to a Reddit user perhaps confirming that the Bulls are asking for two second round picks in a deal for Smith.
While Smith would immediately patch up the Lakers’ hole at backup center, it appears L.A. is hesistant to reach that deeply into what left of its war chest to acquire a solid-but-not-awesome big man.
Lakers Get Major Trade News on $9.4M Center Target to Backup Walker Kessler