The Los Angeles Lakers had an opportunity to roll out a one-two punch of Walker Kessler and Deandre Ayton at the center position for the 2026-27 season. They opted against it. Ayton got traded to the Washington Wizards with the Lakers gambling on finding their backup center externally.
Given the return of Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks, it was a fair roll of the dice. The Lakers freed up some money and recouped draft capital that could set them up for offseason business elsewhere. The main problem from here is how lackluster the remaining free agent centers are at this point of the summer.
When the Lakers made the move to land Hardy, Andre Drummond stood out as a notable player who was available on the open market. Lakers beat reporter Dan Woike even connected him to Los Angeles after the Ayton trade. The veteran center signed with the New York Knicks.
Moving forward, Nick Richards and Kevon Looney stand out as the two best options in free agency for the Lakers. Both of them are underwhelming in their own right. That could mean Rob Pelinka is forced to work his magic on the trade market to land a truly viable backup.
Lakers need to find a trade for a backup center amid lackluster free agent pool
Looney and Richards are both flawed as backup solutions for their own reasons. Looney has aged out of being the type of aerial threat that Luka Doncic needs from his big man. Richards struggles way too much on the defensive end to hold down the middle for the Lakers.
The good news for the Lakers would be that, depending on how their remaining moves shake out, Sandro Mamukelashvili may eventually find himself on the bench. That would allow him to be the main backup at both the four and the five.
The bad news with that thought is Mamukelashvili is better as a backup four, from a defensive perspective, than a backup five. That would still call for the Lakers to find someone who is a more classic center to be available for rotational minutes depending on the matchup.
A reunion with Jaxson Hayes could have been an option here, but the free agent opted to sign with the Utah Jazz. So much for the Slovenian passport securing his long-term future with Doncic.
Whatever the Lakers have cooking with their remaining trades needs to bring in a backup center. It is the clearest pathway to not having that spot stand out as an obvious weakness for next season.
The Lakers have yet to officially announce their wave of offseason moves as official, which could mean they are working on delivering more fireworks. Among those will hopefully be a flashy backup center to solidify the rotation.
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