The Los Angeles Lakers have known for over a year that Anthony Davis wants help at center. He first submitted his formal request for an influx of talent at the 5 in September of 2023, and the Lakers have thus far failed to provide him with the assistance he asked for.
Trade talks appear to be heating up in 2024-25, but Los Angeles' complacency could end up costing it assets it otherwise would've been able to hold onto.
The Lakers have been linked to a number of intriguing players at center in the early months of the 2024-25 campaign. That includes Washington Wizards veteran Jonas Valanciunas, Portland Trail Blazers rim protector Robert Williams III, and Utah Jazz rising star Walker Kessler.
Unfortunately, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line's most recent intel drop revealed that a surplus of teams are now in the market for a center.
With the competition for the available centers heating up, the Lakers could be losing whatever leverage they once held. Previously thought to be a slam-dunk candidate to acquire an upgrade at center, Los Angeles may have waited long enough to sabotage its clearest path to improvement.
With this in mind, the Lakers must now take inventory and answer an impossible question: Is it better to make a trade when the market is heating up or risk waiting until February when the ideal player may have already been moved?
Lakers' indecision could cost them in pursuit of ideal trade for center
In addition to the fact that Davis wants the Lakers to add a center, there's no way around how big of a need an upgrade at the position has become. Davis is playing at an All-NBA level, but Los Angeles ranks No. 26 in second-chance points allowed and No. 27 in opponent points in the paint.
There's more to those issues than the lack of ideal depth at center, but the persistent inability to keep heavier bigs out of the paint has become impossible to overlook.
That acts to heighten the awareness of how the Lakers' patient approach to improvement could be backfiring. If the market grows for a player like Valanciunas, then the cost of doing business will increase accordingly—thus causing the Lakers to lose more than anticipated in a potential trade.
Los Angeles can only hope that the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors recently set the market value of a starting-caliber player at multiple second-round draft picks.
Los Angeles lacks flexibility as far as parting with future first-round draft picks is concerned. It's allowed itself to go down that road far too many times during the Rob Pelinka era, parting with three first-round draft picks since 2020 alone.
Of the players the Lakers acquired in those trades, only D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt remain—and Russell is expected to be traded or allowed to walk in free agency in 2025.
Los Angeles could be waiting to see what Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood are able to do once they return to full health. The same could be said for wing stopper Jarred Vanderbilt, who should limit the success of the opposition's dribble penetration attempts.
If the Lakers aren't careful, however, they could be forced to overpay for a player they could've previously traded for at a more reasonable price.