Rob Pelinka has done a tremendous job of acquiring stars during his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, he's also sacrificed the future for the present, trading first and second-round draft picks with reckless abandon for short-term fixes to long-term issues.
With the Lakers once again depleted of draft assets and in need of depth at center, they need to find a way to strengthen their reserves. Thankfully, LeBron James may have the answer.
As everyone within a five-planet radius has likely heard by now, the Philadelphia 76ers recently signed James. They also added another former Lakers wing in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. That's ultimately led to a new report that Los Angeles should be aware of: The 76ers are looking to offload salary and are likely going to have to pay a steep price in order to sweeten the cost-cutting deal.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the 76ers are looking to trade center Johni Broome—and doing so could require them to include assets that would further sweeten the appeal of taking him on after the Association sat back and watched them sign James for the minimum.
"Sources say that the Sixers are thus looking for trade avenues to part with Johni Broome and the remaining three seasons of a four-year, $8.6 million rookie contract...and I've been warned by multiple rival teams that Philadelphia might find the price of sweeteners that would need to be added to offload Broome to be steeper than it hoped after the whole league watched the Sixers land James on a league-minimum salary."
The logistics of a trade for Broome are rather complicated considering the Lakers have 16 players under contract, but the opportunity to add draft compensation and a developable center is worth considering.
76ers looking to trade Johni Broome, may need to include draft picks
The obvious hurdle for the Lakers is that they already have 16 players under contract and will need to cut ties with at least one before the 2026-27 season. That makes the prospect of trading for Broome rather complex, as roster adjustments would need to transpire. Offloading Dalton Knecht's salary could help if his time truly is running out.
It's far from an impossibility, however, particularly after Dan Woike of The Athletic reported that the Lakers are actively searching for depth at center given Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney's respective injury histories.
"Between Looney’s 21 games and the five Kessler played last season, the Lakers are, according to team and league sources, hunting for reinforcement at the center position."
There are certainly other options to consider, but the Lakers landing a center on a rookie-scale contract while adding draft picks to their depleted reserves would be an ideal outcome.
Lakers are looking for center depth and need more picks
Los Angeles is currently due to have first-round draft picks in 2028, 2030, and 2032. The Utah Jazz reserve the right, however, to swap first-round selections with the Lakers in 2028 and 2030 as a part of the sign-and-trade for Kessler.
Los Angeles also has second-round selections in 2031, 2032, and 2033. In other words: It won't have a second-round pick for another five years and has just three of its next six first-round picks.
This isn't the result of one sign-and-trade for Kessler, but years of Pelinka disregarding the value of draft picks. He traded separate first-rounders for D'Angelo Russell, Dennis Schröder, and Russell Westbrook, all of whom failed to complete two full seasons with the Lakers
Pelinka also gave up four second-round draft picks between separate in-season trades for Dorian Finney-Smith and Luke Kennard—both of whom left the following summer.
76ers' need for flexibility could be a gift to the Lakers
As for Broome, he's a 24-year-old second-year center who has three years and $7,412,516 remaining on his contract. He played limited minutes as a rookie in 2025-26, but he dominated the G League to the tune of 22.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, and1.3 steals in 18 regular season games.
If nothing else, Broome would give the Lakers a playmaking big to develop in their system at a cost that amounts to less than $2.5 million per season—including a club option for 2028-29.
Even if Broome is unable to play a role in the Lakers' rotation, however, this trade could prove fruitful. The Lakers clearly have some roster restructuring to do regardless of if a trade goes through, but they need to replenish their resources on the draft front to sustainably build out their rotation.
There may be other players in free agency who pique the Lakers' interest, but there's no better opportunity than the one James has created for Los Angeles to replenish its draft picks.
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