The Los Angeles Lakers made their bed and they are going to have to lay in it. For better or worse, their big man group for the early parts of the coming 2026-27 regular season is locked in. Walker Kessler, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney, and (effectively) Jarred Vanderbilt are the guys.
On the whole, this is a group the Lakers can work with. On most nights when JJ Redick can get away with it, Mamukelashvili should be the backup five. However, there is still desire to see Los Angeles have someone to utilize ahead of Looney for the matchups that either call for more size down low, or Kessler is missing time due to injury.
If Rob Pelinka is looking for that extra guy in the near future, it will not be found amid a coming flurry of releases across the NBA. The Lakers Collective floated the idea of cutting an extra player from the team to open up a roster spot for one of the bigs who are about to be available. That venture is not worth it based on the guys in question.
Drew Eubanks, James Wiseman, and Jericho Sims were the main guys who came up in the discussion of centers who could soon be available. None of them are really worth going through the trouble of making that extra cut. The Lakers will need alternative means for external help.
Soon-to-be free agents are too lackluster for the Lakers to care
The point here is to get someone better than Looney for the situations when the Lakers would otherwise call his number. Even if there is a belief that one of those potential guys is better, the question then becomes by how much. The answer? An insignificant amount.
Upgrading the position is the goal, not a lateral move to someone who has a different skill set around the same level as Looney. That is not worth sacrificing a more talented player on the team.
It is well known the Lakers are over the roster limit themselves. One player is already due for exile. Creating space for one of those bigs means getting rid of a second guy whose money is also going to count against the cap books in Los Angeles.
That part should not be overlooked. The Lakers do not have a non-guaranteed deal that is going simply disappear. Anyone extra they choose to release will remain a hit on their financials. For a team hoping to take advantage of next year's free agency, every dollar matters.
A consolidation trade would be the best hope of the Lakers finding a way to meaningfully upgrade the spot. Without it, the names about to hit free agency are not needle-movers who are worth the effort and sacrifice.
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