Lakers Trade Rumors: LA Not 'High' on Nikola Vučević; 'Cooled on' Jonas Valančiūnas

The Los Angeles Lakers' reported interest in Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vučević and Washington Wizards center Jonas Valančiūnas may be waning, according to Lakers insider Jovan Buha.

Buha said he heard amid the Lakers' trade for Dorian Finney-Smith that the team had "cooled on" Valančiūnas and were "not being as high" on Vučević (1:00:00 mark of the video below.)

Valančiūnas has been tied to the Lakers since at least June, when ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported LeBron James would be willing to take a pay cut in order for the Lakers to add "an established big man to play alongside Davis such as Jonas Valančiūnas."

Instead, Valančiūnas ended up signing a three-year deal worth an average annual value of $10 million with the Wizards in July.

Although he has been an effective bench player in Washington, Valančiūnas struggled during the team's recent visit to Los Angeles, when he put up eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field last Tuesday against James and the Lakers.

The cost of trading for Valančiūnas, which could potentially involve sending Gabe Vincent the other way, could be preventing the Lakers from completing a trade for him, according to Buha.

"I think Gabe is more valuable than JV, and you potentially have to give up assets, like Gabe and two seconds. I think the Lakers lose that trade, to be honest," Buha said.

The Lakers have also been tied to Vučević amid Davis' repeated statements that he wants to play at power forward alongside a traditional big at the 5.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported Monday that the Lakers were "not expected to join the hunt" for Vučević because of both his trade price and cap hit. Per Stein:

"Adding Vučević would be very pricey for the Lakers beyond Chicago's desire to extract a first-round pick in return; absorbing the $21.5 million owed to Vučević in 2025-26 is daunting financially for a team that projects to have Davis and LeBron James taking up two-thirds of next season's salary cap and has strained to stay below the second apron this season. "

The Lakers sit fifth in the West with a 26-18 record as the trade deadline approaches. The team may still look to make another addition in order to stay in one of the conference's top six spots down the stretch. But after securing some breathing room beneath the second apron with the Finney-Smith trade, per ESPN's Bobby Marks, Lakers leadership is likely to be cautious about how much salary they take on as they look to avoid the play-in round.