The Los Angeles Lakers are lacking both a starting power forward and a backup center, and since the start of the 2026-27 NBA season, trade rumors surrounding the team have only heated up.
Additionally, it’s been reported that the Lakers are interested in packaging two young players on the team to fill at least one of those holes in the roster to land someone who can significantly raise the ceiling of this Luka Doncic-led team.
With that, according to a new blockbuster Lakers trade proposal, Naz Reid of the Charlotte Hornets could be a realistic target, as the former Sixth Man of the Year winner was named a ‘dream’ big man for Rob Pelinka and the front office to go after, whom Los Angeles could land for a price they’d likely be easily willing to part with.
Lakers Naz Reid Trade Proposal
Writing for Bleacher Report, Eric Pincus offered a huge new Lakers trade idea to land Reid from the Hornets. Los Angeles has gotten off to a great start, and amid the reports about the team eyeing a deal to upgrade the roster, he was deemed the exact type of player who would perfectly fit what the Purple and Gold need right now.
Here’s the trade proposal, which includes a package the franchise would almost certainly be willing to give up for the big man to both become the starting power forward and play the backup center minutes behind Walker Kessler.
The Los Angeles Lakers receive: Naz Reid, Tidjane Salaün
The Charlotte Hornets receive: Cameron Carr, Adou Thiero, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jaden Hardy, $23.3 million trade exception (Naz Reid), 2032 first-round pick swap, 2033 second-round pick
According to Lakers reporter Jovan Buha, the team would be interested in trading Carr and Thiero. The front office has also been searching for a team to take Vanderbilt’s contract, while Hardy has also been named as someone Los Angeles would try to move to bring in new talent.
Along with moving all of them, this Lakers trade proposal for Reid sees them giving up their only remaining first-round pick swap, but if it means adding someone who completely fits the needs of the roster right now, there’s no point in not going all in to capitalize on the hot 6-2 start to the season.
The Lakers have been linked to other big men like Jericho Sims, Jalen Smith, and a couple of other names who would likely arrive as only backup centers behind Kessler, but a trade for Reid is completely different.
He is on a five-year, $125 million contract, which wouldn’t be easy to stomach considering the Doncic, Kessler, and Austin Reaves deals, but this is the exact type of all-in move for a top trade target that would see the Lakers take a flier and make a push to jump on the now wide-open Western Conference.
Why Los Angeles Does This Deal For A Top Big Man Target
Pincus named Reid a ‘dream’ trade target for the Lakers, and just by looking at him on paper and what the team has now, it’s hard to argue with that.
“The front office built around the Luka Dončić-Austin Reaves-Kessler trio as well as it could, but the Lakers’ lack of bench depth has already been exposed. If the Hornets were willing to take L.A.’s package for Reid, the Lakers would jump at the opportunity—even giving up two young prospects they value highly in Carr and Thiero,” Pincus wrote on this Lakers trade proposal.
“Reid would presumably start at power forward, then rotate to center when Kessler sits. The Lakers don’t improve defensively, but they add high-end depth, and Reid is a significant offensive upgrade. Vanderbilt has played a role in recent games with Ziaire Williams nursing a foot injury but hadn’t been a rotation staple during Redick’s reign.”
Reid was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Hornets this past offseason, and is once again putting up strong averages of 15.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists through eight games, a slight jump from his numbers over the past few years when playing up North.
While his shooting stats are a bit down to start the season, his three-point spacing and rim protection are exactly what the Lakers have been looking for over the past few months, and as mentioned, he could join the starting lineup and be the ideal stretch-five to play when Kessler is on the bench.
Additionally, as Buha previously said, it appears Carr, Thiero, Vanderbilt, and Hardy are all on the trade block for the Lakers, assuming one team would be willing to take any combination of them.
Los Angeles would also add Salaun, a former sixth overall pick who would add to the forward depth, still on his rookie contract.
“The trade would need to wait until close to the deadline to allow the Lakers to return to the required 14 players. Los Angeles would acquire Reid via the expanded traded player exception of Vanderbilt and Hardy; Salaün works similarly for Carr and Thiero,” Pincus added on the trade proposal for Reid. “The timing to replenish the roster would be simpler if they found a taker for Looney (or Bronny James) without salary coming back. If so, L.A. could sign three prorated minimum players (to the maximum 15) while staying below its $209 million first-apron hard cap.”
This Lakers trade idea would be a huge risk, but the upside is there.
Pincus is right: Reid is a ‘dream’ trade target for Los Angeles, and while it’s uncertain if Charlotte would give him up for this price, if a deal like this is on the table, Pelinka should already be on the phone.
As Buha previously stated, the Lakers need to capitalize on Doncic’s historic start to the season, and making a big move like this might be the best way to drastically change the title race in the Western Conference, while truly giving Los Angeles a star-studded squad with true championship hopes.
“If the Lakers don’t make a move and don’t try to improve this roster, it would be, to quote you, malpractice,” he said on Buha’s Block. “I just think that would be a giant mistake having Luka in his prime, potentially the best season of his career, and to not improve a couple of holes in the roster.”
Though just a trade idea, the deal Pincus outlined could be the exact way the Lakers go from a team with an outside hope at making a deep run to a roster that can actually win four straight playoff rounds by adding Reid.
Lakers Trade Proposal Adds $125M ‘Dream’ Big Man Target In Blockbuster Move