Inside the Lakers’ complex approach to NBA trade deadline decisions

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Lakers forward Anthony Davis grabs a loose ball next to Raptors center Jakob Poeltl on Nov. 10 at Crypto.com Arena. Davis has said he hopes the Lakers trade for a center to bolster the team’s depth. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

The pressure, intended or not, is on.

Anthony Davis, in an interview taped with ESPN the day after the Lakers lost to the Clippers, said he thought the team should be active in acquiring a center. The context of the request was more than an ask for more bulk. It was in some ways a call to realign the roster with Davis playing more power forward, an end result that’s growing more unlikely as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches.

Davis suffered an abdominal strain Tuesday and is scheduled to be reevaluated in a week, muddying up the trade waters some. Still, let’s assume that the short timetable is a relatively good sign and that the injury isn’t feared to be serious.

In trying to engineer a trade, the Lakers have at their disposal their 2029 and 2031 first-round draft picks, a 1-4 protection on their 2027 first-round pick and a pair of second-round picks in this year’s draft.

Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) goes up for a layup under pressure from Spurs center Victor Wembanyama on Jan. 13. (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)

In conversations with executives inside and outside of the organization, it’s become clear that the costs for starting-caliber NBA centers are high — particularly ones good enough to force the Lakers into the kind of seismic change that moving Davis to power forward and LeBron James to small forward would cause.

Take Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl, who is under contract for $19.5 million next season (with a player option at the same number in 2026-27). Poeltl, 29, is a talented center who could be the kind of player the Lakers would target. However, Toronto is rumored to be seeking more than a first-round pick for Poeltl (and perhaps even two). It’s the kind of price the Lakers just wouldn’t pay for a player like him, likely requiring they trade Rui Hachimura and maybe two first-round picks for a center who, ultimately, plays the same position as Davis…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/inside-lakers-complex-approach-nba-222220369.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2025-01-29 22:22:00

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