The Lakers have made it evidently clear that searching for an elite big man to fit alongside Luka Doncic as a lob threat is their priority, even over extending LeBron James’ contract.
According to several rumors, including NBA insider Jake L. Fischer’s recent report on The Stein Line, the Lakers are interested in adding Mitchell Robinson to their roster this summer.
NBA insider Brett Siegel also reported that the Lakers are willing to offer a long-term deal near the mid-level exception figures to Robinson in the early negotiations.
“And it shouldn’t come as a secret to anyone that the Lakers already have plans to pursue Robinson as well. Early talk regarding Los Angeles is that they are prepared to offer Robinson a long-term deal that would hold an annual average value around the mid-level exception, sources said,” wrote Siegel.
The seven-foot center won the 2026 NBA championship with the Knicks and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He averaged 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks while finishing 72.3% of his shots from the field in 2025-26.
According to Rich Paul, who is LeBron James’ agent, adding Robinson will not fulfill the Lakers’ requirement to find an elite big man, despite Robinson’s role in the championship-winning roster of the Knicks.
Paul spoke to Max Kellerman on their podcast about how Robinson’s game is totally different than a center who has proven to thrive around Doncic, like Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford, while Kellerman raised injury concerns about Robinson.
“Also, he’s a different type of big. What we’ve seen be successful with Luka is guys like Gafford and Lively,” said Paul.
“The great thing about Lively is that he has guard IQ. Like he can make reads, he can catch a lob, knows how to set a screen, hold it, roll, short roll, dive, has great hands for pocket passes, and kicking it to the corner. But that’s not Mitchell Robinson.”
“Robinson is an extra possession, shot blocking, dive for the loose ball guy. He can get out and guard, can move his feet pretty well to contest, but he’s not [starter material],” said Paul while nodding in discontent with his fit alongside Doncic.
While both Kellerman and Paul acknowledged that Robinson would help in addressing the Lakers’ defensive concerns, his offensive impact will not be close enough to make him a worthy starter over a player like Deandre Ayton or Robbie Avila, who the Lakers added to the roster after the 2026 NBA Draft ended.
Ayton still has to decide on an $8.1 million player option and has less than 72 hours from now to do so. If he does that, then the expectation is that the Lakers will look to trade him.
The Knicks are not expected to retain Robinson, who will thus be listening to offers from new teams. But the Lakers do not need to rush their decision on Robinson.
In my opinion, Paul is right to the extent that Robinson is not a starting-caliber center who can address all of the Lakers’ concerns, especially when they could have a player like Deandre Ayton on the roster.
If Ayton picks up his player option, they could find a better fit alongside Doncic in the trade market instead of signing Robinson just because he is a big name that could be swooped up early in free agency.
