The Los Angeles Lakers sit towards the top of the loaded Western Conference through their first 20 games of the season.
LA holds a 15-5 record thus far, and while they suffered an embarrassing loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, they remain among the league’s elite teams.
The Lakers arguably have the best big three in the league, featuring LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Luka Doncic. Those three have proven they can hold their own and have proven they are an elite unit on the offensive end.
While the Lakers have an excellent record to start the season, it is clear as day that they need to make a move, maybe two, to put themselves in contender status for the rest of the season. LA is in search of bolstering its roster, and there are a variety of ways it can go to do just that.
One name that NBA insider Jake Fischer sees the Lakers making a move for is Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford. In one of his recent mailbags, Fischer noted how the Lakers could potentially be targeting Gafford.
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“The Lakers are still undoubtedly going to be looking for long-term pick-and-roll lob threat pairings for Luka Doncic and also for Austin Reaves, but particularly for Doncic. Who better to go after than someone who had massive success alongside of Doncic in Dallas, where they made the finals together. His contract is quite manageable to trade for compared to a Sabonis at $40 million, for example, [Daniel] Gafford off top of mind.”
Fischer went on to say how Gafford’s contract allows him to be trade-eligible. He signed a three-year, $54 million contract extension with the Maveircks in July, and it doesn’t start until the 2026-27 season.
The contract is structured to keep him trading and does not include a typical six-month no-trade clause that a higher-value extension would trigger. This means that it allows the Mavericks the flexibility to trade him while also securing him as a key player in their frontcourt.
However, given how things are unfolding in Dallas, the Mavericks may trade him before this year’s trade deadline in February.
The Lakers have a flurry of players they could trade, but in this scenario, Fischer names Lakers forward Rui Hachimura as the primary candidate.
“What type of outgoing salary could that mean? I mean, they have a good chunk to combine Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent in the event that they do see someone they identify and want to go target and add,” Fischer said.
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While that could be the case, Fischer added that LA could hold off on doing anything drastic in the meantime.
“But I think at this point in time, the Lakers are still going to also be in a little bit of a wait-and-see mode, see what this group really looks like. See what the context is before they really push their chips in and make some type of move.”
One thing is clear: the Lakers are likely to make a move prior to this year’s trade deadline. What that deal will look like is still anybody’s guess.
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