With the confirmed exit of LeBron James, the Lakers were finally able to actively make offseason moves to rebuild around Luka Doncic with a significant amount of cap space. It saw them land promising players like Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, and Sandro Mamukelashvili in free agency and Walker Kessler via a trade.
According to Dan Woike, the Lakers’ insider for The Athletic, Luka Doncic had been actively in communication with the front office and is now looking forward to the coming season.
“According to league sources, Luka Dončić was ‘excited’ about the Lakers’ signings, with the team addressing his biggest desires for the roster by keeping Austin Reaves and getting an elite rim-protecting center in Kessler,” wrote Woike.
“Those sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deals have not been completed, said the Lakers kept in regular communication with Dončić and his team despite a significant time gap, with the star guard spending his summer in Europe.”
Doncic was initially interested in adding Jalen Duren to this roster instead of Walker Kessler. But it seems that the Pistons were more hellbent on retaining Duren by matching any offer than the Jazz were willing to do for Kessler. So it looks like the Lakers decided to pivot to Kessler.
Sources have also suggested that it was Doncic who asked Rob Pelinka to do whatever it takes to land a center of Kessler’s caliber. So if anyone is to blame for the reason that the Lakers don’t have any tradeable draft assets over the next seven years, it’s Doncic as much as Pelinka is held responsible for it.
A lot of people wonder if the Lakers overpaid for Kessler since they left themselves without any ammunition to make any trade moves beyond direct player swaps. Kessler ended last season averaging 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 70.3% from the field and 75.6% from the three-point line in the five games he played before ending his season with an injury to his left shoulder.
The Lakers are still reportedly in the free agency market, going through their options of players to add to this young roster. Names like Jonathan Kuminga, Matisse Thybulle, and Ziaire Williams have been brought up in discussions since the front office is now reportedly targeting defensive wings.
They still have two more roster spots left to fill as they look at an almost completely new team from what they looked like last season. So it will certainly be interesting to see how they fill those over the next few weeks.
