The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a tremendous start to the 2026-27 NBA season, but LA isn't without its weaknesses. One of those glaring issues is the Lakers' lack of a second center to spell Walker Kessler, whose body must be conserved over the course of the 82-game regular season.
Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford is a player who's been linked to the Lakers in each of the past two transaction cycles (and perhaps further back than that). The Lakers' obstacle to acquiring Gafford is that the Mavs are in win mode and are unlikely to part ways with Gafford this season, especially given LA's meager trade offerings.
The Lakers, following an active offseason of spending, have just one first-round pick swap and three second-rounders to offer in trades. And in terms of players, Jarred Vanderbilt is a guy that LA is definitely trying to move, but he doesn't have much basketball value at this point.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka will need to get creative as he goes out into the market in search of another center. It's not going to be Gafford coming back, but there are other big guys Pelinka can target. Here are three of them.
3 centers the Lakers could target instead of Daniel Gafford
Goga Bitadze (Magic)
Bitadze is an experienced center with averages of 13.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per 36 minutes throughout his seven-plus seasons in the Association. He's tough, physical, and more than capable of backing up Kessler. Some might say he's overqualified for the role.
There's one potential problem with the Lakers going after Bitadze, and that's Luka Doncic. Bitadze and Doncic got into an on-court altercation last season in which (according to Doncic) Bitadze said some truly awful things about Luka's family. If Doncic still holds a grudge about this, Bitadze might be as off-limits as Gafford is.
Day’Ron Sharpe (Nets)
Sharpe offers superior production to Bitadze (16.0 points and 13.5 rebounds per 36 minutes in his career), plus he's younger and more mobile.
Sharpe's been logging bigger minutes than usual with the Nets this year due to Brooklyn dealing with some injuries. It remains to be seen whether that situation would have the Nets feeling hesitant to move Sharpe at the deadline. There's also the fact that he's a really nice young player on a good contract ($10 million this year) ... so why move him, generally speaking?
Even so, the Nets are certainly in rebuild mode. Sharpe promises to be available at the right price, which could mean the Lakers would need to give up a non-Vanderbilt player on their roster whom they'd prefer to keep.
Jericho Sims (Bucks)
Sims is a slightly lesser version of a player whom the Lakers wish they still had at the moment -- Jaxson Hayes. Sims isn't going to wow anyone with his skill-set, but he's 6-foot-10 and athletic. He can run the floor and catch lobs -- which means he'd do well playing with Luka. He's probably the most attainable center for the Lakers given their short stock of trade assets. In a beggars-can't-be-choosers type of way, the Lakers would certainly love to have Sims right now rather than no competent backup at all.
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