The Los Angeles Lakers have a backup center issue. When free agency opened, Rob Pelinka hit a homerun by completing a sign-and-trade to land Walker Kessler, finally giving Luka Doncic the starting center he’s been begging for. But when you have a starter, the best way to prop them up is by giving them a safety net as their backup, and Pelinka did the exact opposite by signing Kevon Looney.
At this stage of his career, Looney is way better suited as a third-string center rather than a full-time backup. To make things right, Pelinka should pursue Nick Richards and take a win-by-committee approach between Richards and Looney behind Kessler.
Richards has previously been linked to the Lakers, but a deal never came to fruition. With him now sitting on the open market, Pelinka should give him a call and see if bringing him to Los Angeles to play with Doncic can give his career new life. Over his six years in the NBA, the 28-year-old big has been a reliable lob threat and rebounder, two skills that fit perfectly around Luka.
Nick Richards is the low-risk solution the Lakers need
This past season, he averaged 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field across 48 games between the Phoenix Suns and Chicago Bulls.
Richards is far from the perfect big man, as he struggles to be the primary rim protector for a team and doesn’t have much of an offensive game outside of finishing plays. The things he does do well is set screens, catch lobs, and rebound the ball. Those are all things the Lakers are going to need from their second unit.
Putting him in a role where he splits reps with Looney, they could get the job done. That is especially true with an elite starter like Kessler holding things down for 30-plus minutes per game.
As previously mentioned, Richards played 48 games last season; add that to Looney’s 21 games for New Orleans last season, and that puts the tandem at 69 in 2025-26. If the Lakers got that same amount of games played between Richards and Looney next season, they would be in a good place.
The way the Lakers are currently constructed, with Jarred Vanderbilt and Sandro Mamukelashvili, they have the means to cover 13 games without either Looney or Richards playing.
The center market is incredibly dry, and the Lakers are limited on assets following the Kessler sign-and-trade. If Pelinka is trying to give the Lakers a shot at winning a Larry O'Brien this next season, he has to get creative.
Signing Richards to share backup center duties would be exactly that. He’s a cost-effective option and is the type of rim-running big Doncic is in the league to maximize.
The decision seems obvious.
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