Free agency hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts if you are a Los Angeles Lakers fan. While Austin Reaves looks set to stay, LeBron James is leaving, and beloved role player Luke Kennard is joining the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers’ president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka is getting hammered online, but ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on SportsCenter on Tuesday that he is hard at work.
“Right now, as we speak, Lakers president Rob Pelinka has been in the midst of multiple meetings with free agents,” Charania said. “That includes restricted free agents like Walker Kessler and Jalen Duren. That includes other unrestricted free agents as well. They’re going to prioritize some size, shooting, backcourt help. I think all of it.
“And they’re going to have $50 million in cap space now that LeBron James has informed them that they can move on with their business and he’s going to move on with theirs elsewhere,” Charania continued. “So, right now, that’s what their priorities are. They’re going to use their cap space. They have exceptions as well. They’re going to be aggressive to try to fill this roster out with multiple different types of players.”
Now, it has been reported that Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes are expected to sign with the Lakers. Mamukelashvili and Grimes aren’t game-changers, but they are solid role players. They also fit the profile that Charania mentioned.
Mamukelashvili is a 6’9″ center/forward who shot 38.9% from three for the Toronto Raptors in 2025-26. As for Grimes, he is a solid backup guard option who put up 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2025-26.
While these are good pieces, the Lakers’ offseason will ultimately be defined by what happens at that center position. Deandre Ayton has opted into his $8.1 million player option for 2026-27, but he clearly isn’t good enough to be their starter. Walker Kessler and Jalen Duren would be.
Kessler averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game for the Utah Jazz in 2025-26. He only played five games due to injury, but he is the kind of defender and rim-runner that Luka Doncic would love to play alongside.
Duren isn’t a great defender, but he excels in the pick-and-roll. He averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game for the Detroit Pistons in 2025-26, and made the All-NBA Third Team.
The Lakers have met with Kessler and Duren, but the problem for them, of course, is that they’re restricted free agents. Both of these players could be interested in signing with them, but they don’t have control over their futures at the moment.
The Jazz and the Pistons have the right to match offers and keep their big man. The Pistons will reportedly match any potential offer sheet Duren signs. Teams are not going to let a good young player walk for nothing, so the chances that either of these two becomes a Laker aren’t great.
Once you get past these two, the center options in the market aren’t too exciting. The Lakers have been linked to Mitchell Robinson, but he is more of a backup, and there are questions about the fit.
As for other notable names linked to the Lakers, Gary Trent Jr. is one of them. Trent has shot 38.7% from beyond the arc for his career and would help address the need for shooters.
Expect more names to be thrown around in the coming days, and it will be fascinating to see who the Lakers end up with. If the roster doesn’t look better than last season, though, calls for Pelinka’s head will grow louder.
