Heavy’s Adel Ahmad called backup center the Lakers’ biggest weakness after five preseason games. His argument is that Kevon Looney hasn’t shown he can handle 15 steady minutes behind Walker Kessler.
The one game Kessler has played backs him up: in his debut against Golden State, the Lakers outscored the Warriors by 15 with Kessler on the floor and were outscored by 27 without him in a 101-89 loss. Kessler also only played 5 games for the Utah Jazz last season due to injury, so whoever backs him up could end up starting for long stretches.
One Name Has Actual Talks Behind It
Jericho Sims is the only target with reported talks behind him. Jake Fischer reported on The Stein Line that the Lakers and Bucks have held exploratory trade discussions on a framework that would ship former first-round selection Dalton Knecht to Milwaukee (along with second-round draft capital) in exchange for big man Jericho Sims. Jovan Buha said on his podcast that “Sims is a target.”
Milwaukee has its own reasons to move him. Sims is the Bucks’ current third-string center behind Myles Turner and Kel’El Ware, and he averaged 5.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 67 games last season.
The Rest of the Wish List Has No Traction
Lake Show Life’s Colin Keane pitched Brooklyn’s Day’Ron Sharpe, pointing to $10 million this year and a $10 million team option for next season. The problem is Brooklyn’s depth chart. The Nets moved Nic Claxton to Chicago as part of the multi-team deal that brought Julius Randle to Brooklyn, which leaves Sharpe in line to start, and no reporting has the Lakers calling about him.
Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane keeps pushing Orlando’s Goga Bitadze. Nothing suggests either side has talked. Daniel Gafford, the name fans kept attaching to the Lakers all summer, faded in July, when Fischer said he had no inclination the Lakers had held trade talks of real consequence about him.
The Bucks Want More Than the Lakers Will Pay
Even the Sims talks have stalled. ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel reported that the Bucks had not been all that receptive to such a move with LA for just a single second-round pick. Fischer also reported that the Philadelphia 76ers have emerged as another potential suitor for Sims.
The Lakers’ reluctance to pay more makes sense. The Athletic’s Dan Woike said in a Reddit Q&A that the asks for backup bigs have been multiple seconds at minimum, and that spending much of the team’s remaining capital on a low-minutes big isn’t worth it. Buha added that Sims is relatively unproven and questioned whether he could give 8 to 12 reliable minutes against Oklahoma City or San Antonio.
The roster count adds another snag. Sims is on $2.8 million this season against Knecht’s roughly $4.2 million, so the money works for a legal trade. A one-for-one swap still would not help with the Lakers’ roster compliance issues, as they would still need to drop down to 15 after this deal is made.
Expect Looney Until February
The likeliest outcome is no center trade before opening night. Fischer’s sources were pessimistic, and Buha has said there doesn’t appear to be much movement on that front. Milwaukee’s price is a second pick the Lakers have shown they don’t want to give up, and Philadelphia’s interest only strengthens the Bucks’ position.
What probably happens instead is the fallback Fischer described: the Lakers might be forced, if no deal materializes between now and Monday’s deadline, to simply waive Knecht to get down to 15. After that, Redick has acknowledged that Kevon Looney and Sandro Mamukelashvili will receive backup-center minutes.
The front office would then take the question into the season, the same timeline Buha has argued for, finding a real backup before the February trade deadline. If Pelinka does give in, expect Sims plus a second pick. That would be a small upgrade on Looney, not a fix for the problem Ahmad laid out.
Source: Adel Ahmad of Heavy
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