The Los Angeles Lakers, as currently constructed, are walking on thin ice. If either of LA's two centers gets injured and misses significant time in 2026-27, the Lakers' defense and rebounding capacities will sink underwater and kill this team.
Newcomers Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney are the two centers I'm referring to, of course. Kessler played five games last season; Looney, 21. That's not exactly a confidence-injecting precedent heading into the upcoming campaign, especially given LA's lack of a third center. The Athletic's Dan Woike recently touched on this, noting that so much rests on Kessler's shoulders (and, well, his durability).
Lakers can't afford any significant Walker Kessler injuries in 2026-27
"Part of the reason so much hinges on Kessler is the way the Lakers and Luka Dončić prioritized him," Woike wrote. "Another part is that the Lakers have only Kevon Looney as a backup. Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jarred Vanderbilt are in pencil further down the Lakers’ depth chart, but neither would be capable of playing center on a full-time basis should they need to."
No one's denying that Kessler's rebounding will transform the Lakers in winning ways. But that's an "on-paper" conclusion. When the season starts, the "on-paper" rosters are thrown into the trash, and we see what actually works in practice ... and, more importantly, we see who can stay healthy and on the court.
More and more, the breakneck pace of NBA basketball in the modern age results in a war of attrition by the time the playoffs roll around. It's no longer about who has the most talented or best team in May, but who is the healthiest.
Given Kessler's size and recent injury history, the Lakers can't feel totally comfortable that their frontcourt will be healthy enough when the games start to matter in the spring.
You can probably see where I'm headed with this...
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka needs to go out and get a third center before the season starts
Nick Richards is the obvious free-agent target for the Lakers, but it remains to be seen whether Pelinka will go the free-agent route or otherwise acquire a big man via trade. Pelinka still has Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht to use as trade chips, though neither player is exactly attracting a flurry of interest.
Pelinka's had a pretty good offseason, but his job's not finished (Kobe voice). Go out and get another five.
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