With September around the corner, the Los Angeles Lakers will soon have to finalize their roster needs.
The problem? Time is of the essence, and there are officially few options that are potentially available now that most teams are done with their offseason order of business.
According to Lakers reporter Khobi Price, the Lakers aren’t working with a ton of resources at their disposal to make a move.
“Without (Jonthan) Kuminga, the answer to who’ll be their fifth starter is likely already on the team. Every other starting-caliber or pseudo starting-caliber wing/forward free agent for a team looking to contend in the playoffs has already been signed. Those types of players aren’t easy to trade for, and the Lakers lack the draft capital to credibly make a deal.”
Price did mention one player the Lakers could have on their radar.
Luka Doncic’s Mavs Teammate Mentioned as Potential Lakers Target
The Lakers’ biggest needs right now are at power forward and backup center. The plan was to sign Kuminga and have him start at power forward, but the 23-year-old swingman spurned the Lakers and inked a multi-year contract with the West rival Minnesota Timberwolves.
According to Price, one player the Lakers could go after is a former Dallas teammate of Luka Doncic.
“After the Heat picked up Nick Richards on a veteran’s minimum contract on Thursday, the list of free- agent big men became even shorter and more bleak,” Price wrote for the California Post. “The most significant option for the Lakers could be Dwight Powell, the 6-10, 35-year-old big man who was teammates with Doncic for 6 ½ seasons in Dallas. Notably, Powell has played the most games as a teammate alongside Doncic (389) among the 98 players Doncic has played alongside in his eight-year NBA career.”
A former 45th overall pick, Powell is still an unrestricted free agent after appearing in 63 games for the Mavericks last season. At his peak, Powell averaged 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting close to 60 percent from the field in the 2018-19 season, Doncic’s first in the NBA.
Other Options for L.A.
Price noted that if the Lakers make another move, they’ll most likely look to address the backup center spot first.
“If they do make any additions to their roster before training camp starts in a month, it’d likely be big man depth behind Kessler and Kevon Looney, who they signed to a veteran’s minimum contract. They will still need to trim their roster by at least one player by the start of the regular season to become compliant with the league’s rules. Besides that, most of the Lakers’ major moves are behind them.”
With the Lakers lacking the assets needed to land a player of true impact, as Price wrote, their best options in a trade include two big men who are near the bottom of the rotation on their respective teams.
“These limitations, in addition to a big man market that has a high demand but low supply of quality options, are why the Lakers don’t have many trade options for big man depth,” Price wrote. “But if they decided to go that route, two potential targets would be Bucks center Jericho Sims and Bulls big man Jalen Smith.”
As for Powell, the veteran free agent big man wouldn’t be a bad option given his lengthy history with Doncic. We’ll see if the Lakers choose to go that route.
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