The Los Angeles Lakers need a new backup center, and while there are a ton of names mentioned as potential targets for the front office to go out and get, Jericho Sims of the Milwaukee Bucks remains at the top of the list, considering his contract and the skill set he could bring to the team’s minutes when Walker Kessler is on the bench.
The Lakers already tried trading for Sims before the season began, ready to offer a package of Dalton Knecht and a second-round pick. However, Milwaukee wanted second-rounders in a deal, which caused the Lakers to back out.
But now, still without a rotational-caliber backup center, the Lakers have once again been urged to go after Sims. While a deal couldn’t get done a month ago, there is another player on the roster who isn’t getting minutes and might be enough to move the needle on a trade getting done, and his name is Bronny James.
Lakers Could Use New Player In Jericho Sims Trade
The buzz has only grown about the Lakers’ need to upgrade from current backup center Kevon Looney, and with that, Sims remains a top target for the team to get ahead of the trade deadline.
As Lakers reporter Jovan Buha has said on multiple occasions, Sims would be a great fit for what Los Angeles needs right now.
“I liked what we saw from Sims. I think his defensive mobility in the pick-and-roll. I like the energy from him and the athleticism,” Buha said after the Lakers-Bucks game on Wednesday night. “I think you would take either one as a backup five…Sims, for me, the price would be simple. I would do a second.”
“You can make a similar case for Jericho Sims (as a player the Lakers could use),” Buha noted earlier in the season. “But that general archetype, I think, would go a long way with the Lakers bench and just with what they need.”
Sims was named an ideal target for the Lakers to go after by Dan Woike of The Athletic, and though Knecht wasn’t enough to get a deal done, there’s a decent chance James could move the needle on a deal.
As CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn described, James has more value to a smaller market team like the Bucks than he has with the Lakers, and if Milwaukee wants more attention and eyeballs during a tanking year, LeBron James‘ son offers that.
“If I were the Lakers, I’d be trying to trade Bronny right now to some owner who wants to sell some jerseys. I’d rather keep Knecht on the books as possible trade salary than cut him and deal with dead money. The Lakers don’t really need the James brand like other teams do,” he wrote in a post on X.
The money matches up evenly in a Sims-James swap, but if the Bucks don’t want him, Jaden Hardy is another potential name the Lakers could move. It’s uncertain what Milwaukee would want in a deal, but they already have two centers in Myles Turner and Kel’el Ware, and could look to one of the young players as talent poised for development. Los Angeles might still need to include at least one second-round pick to get a deal done, as it is clear a backup center is the team’s biggest need.
Sims is one of many Lakers trade targets mentioned in recent rumors, and with him sitting at the end of the bench on his current team, it might be wise for Los Angeles to make a push for him now. He’d be cheap, and even if it would cost James or Hardy, if it means adding a new rotational player, it’s hard to see Rob Pelinka and the front office reluctant to trade either of the two reserve guards struggling for playing time.
Bronny James Gets Brutal Outlook On Los Angeles Future
With just 17 minutes played and four total points scored in the first three and a half weeks for the Lakers this season, the verdict might finally be in on James. He is a -40 when on the court for Los Angeles this season, and despite being given several attempts to prove himself as an NBA-caliber player, the third-year guard hasn’t shown much.
As Tyler Watts recently wrote after yet another experiment of playing James at the point guard position, once Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves went down on Wednesday against the Bucks, it might be time for the Lakers to move on from James.
“The Lakers have a tough decision to make on Bronny. They have a $2.4 million team option on his contract for next season. If James can’t help them win, it is time to move on. Doncic and Reaves are in their primes, and every roster spot matters. James must improve, or it is time to let him go,” he wrote. “Bronny keeps failing every opportunity he receives. The offense scored one basket in over four minutes with him running the show. It was garbage time, but James needs to shine in those moments to have any shot at playing with the game in doubt.”
The outlook on James before the Bucks game and this season was bleak as well. Watts was one of many who questioned the Lakers’ decision to keep the 2024 second-round pick over Knecht for the final roster spot, and after it didn’t look like he was set for much playing time this season, that has now been proven true.
“Bronny is in his third NBA season. His jumper took a significant step forward last year, but the preseason has everyone wondering if that was a fluke. James isn’t a point guard. If he’s not making shots, the Lakers need to move on from Bronny,” he previously wrote. “It is now or never for Bronny to earn a rotation spot, and his disastrous preseason gave the Lakers the answer. It is time to move on.”
“The reality is that James is unlikely to see significant minutes. Dončić, Reaves, Grimes and Sexton can all handle playmaking duties, and mixing and matching the team’s various wing options will likely be a bigger priority than getting James much work in the rotation,” Bleacher Report’s Timothy Rapp added. “While James making the roster over Knecht may feel like a vote of confidence from head coach JJ Redick and the front office, it’s just as likely that the Lakers felt Knecht was no longer a fit and needed a change of scenery.”
If James can move the needle on a Sims trade, the Lakers should make that move without hesitation. If they can’t, the team could also waive him for a free agent like Bruce Brown or Ochai Agbaji, two players who could bring more to the table than the 22-year-old.
Regardless, Los Angeles needs to upgrade the roster, and right now, the team’s needs put James on the outside more than ever, even if he wasn’t considered to be on the chopping block before.
Lakers Could Revisit Jericho Sims Trade With Bronny James As Bait