The Lakers’ last easy answer behind Walker Kessler disappeared Monday. Marc Stein had reported that the Lakers would have “strong interest in signing him to a two-way deal” if Dallas cut Moussa Cissé. Instead, the Mavericks waived Dwight Powell and kept Cissé.
That leaves a team whose own beat reporters describe Kessler as the only true center on the roster, with Kevon Looney and Sandro Mamukelashvili splitting what’s left. Only two trade targets are still realistic, and both run into the same problem: the Lakers have almost nothing to pay with.
Two Names With Actual Talks Behind Them
1. Jericho Sims, Bucks. This is the only idea backed by reported talks. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that the Lakers and Bucks held exploratory discussions on a framework sending Dalton Knecht to Milwaukee (along with second-round draft capital) for Sims.
Sims is cheap. He exercised a $2.8 million player option for 2026-27 and averaged 5.0 points and 5.5 rebounds on 78 percent shooting in 67 games last season.
2. Jalen Smith, Bulls. The Athletic’s Dan Woike named Smith this summer as one of three backup centers L.A. could go after, and Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane has kept pushing him. Smith is owed $9.4 million on an expiring deal, and Elias Schuster of Sports Illustrated’s Bulls site wrote that Smith is among multiple players the Chicago front office wouldn’t mind trading immediately.
ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel reported that the Lakers have talked with the Bulls about Knecht, though not specifically about Smith.
Two other names don’t make the list. Lane also floated Orlando’s Goga Bitadze, but no reporting connects either team to talks, and filling his salary would probably take two Lakers players for one.
Cissé is no longer realistic either: Dallas just chose him over a 12-year franchise fixture, and the Lakers’ interest was in signing him after he cleared waivers, not trading for him.
The Lakers Can’t Afford Either Price
The Lakers have very little to trade. The Kessler deal left them with just a 2032 first-round swap and three second-round picks to trade. Every team on the other end of the phone knows that.
On Sims, the gap is already clear. Siegel reported that Milwaukee had not been particularly receptive to such a move for just a single second-round pick. Fischer said he’d heard “some pessimism from sources briefed on those talks.”
The Knecht window also closes today. Monday’s cutdown means Knecht is either traded or waived, and a waived Knecht can’t be used to match salary later. Exact salary-matching mechanics under the Lakers’ apron position haven’t been reported, so any Sims framework without Knecht should be treated as uncertain.
Smith costs more. Knecht’s $4.2 million doesn’t come close to covering $9.4 million, so the deal needs a second outgoing player. Siegel did report the Lakers are still exploring “if they can do a 2-for-1 trade to add another center.”
A two-for-one would also fix the roster crunch, which a straight Knecht-for-Smith swap would not. Woike’s broader report covers Smith too: on backup bigs, “the asks have been multiple seconds at minimum.”
Woike also explained why the Lakers have held back. He doesn’t think it makes sense to spend a large share of their remaining assets on someone who “would play low minutes and maybe just help them sleep easier at night.” That reads as the front office’s view, not just a reporter’s.
No Trade Before Opening Night
The likeliest outcome is that the Lakers trade for nobody this week. Knecht gets waived, and the Lakers open Wednesday against Golden State with Looney and Mamukelashvili covering Kessler’s rest minutes.
Siegel already said that, based on how things have gone, he would “lean in the direction of no trade happening.” Spending two of three seconds on Sims, a career reserve, goes against everything the Lakers have done since July.
The backup center question will come back closer to the deadline. Jovan Buha has said it’s “probably going to be resolved closer to the trade deadline,” when the Lakers’ expiring contracts are worth more.
Smith’s expiring deal makes him the best fit for that kind of February trade. The cost of waiting is injury risk: Woike noted that if Kessler misses three weeks with a hamstring injury, the center problem gets real.
Powell is the cheaper option in the meantime. He’ll clear waivers Wednesday and can sign for the minimum, but that would mean cutting a second player from among Jaden Hardy and Bronny James. Expect the Lakers to wait on that too, unless Kessler gets hurt.
Source: Marc Stein of The Stein Line
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