Lakers Must Target Brook Lopez in NBA Free Agency Amid Luka Dončić, LeBron Rumors

The 2024-25 NBA playoffs are still going strong, but free agency is right around the corner. When the market opens on July 6, the Los Angeles Lakers will undoubtedly be looking for center help.

According to one NBA executive who spoke with NBA reporter Gery Woelfel, impending Milwaukee Bucks free agent Brook Lopez is a center that several teams will have interest in this offseason, including L.A.:

While it would be against league rules for the Lakers to actually speak with Lopez before the start of the free-agency negotiation period, L.A. probably is doing its homework on the 37-year-old.

After all, center was the roster's biggest weak point this past season, and the Lakers need to find ways to improve the position—and their defense overall—if they're going to build around offensive star Luka Dončić moving forward.

And building around Luka Dončić appears to still be the plan nearly four months after he was acquired. The 26-year-old will be extension-eligible this offseason but isn't eligible for a max contract. He could also choose to not re-sign with L.A. and reach free agency in 2026.

To this point, though, Dončić has given no indication that he views his Lakers tenure as a temporary thing. On the contrary, he may be eager to further improve and embrace his role as the face of the storied franchise.

At the very least, Dončić is ready to alter his conditioning, which was often criticized when he was a member of the Dallas Mavericks.

"I’ve heard from folks that are pretty honest about the conditioning stuff or whatever that Luka has already like begun to clean slate, like starting anew. He’s already like in this mindset of changing a lot about himself," Jason Gallagher, who is the producer of Mind The Game with LeBron James and Steve Nash recently told The Dumb Zone (h/t Edwin Garcia of Silver Screen and Roll).

While the older Lopez may not fit the long-term timeline with Dončić, his shot blocking and range shooting would fit the team's current needs. And assuming the Lakers want to make one final title push with Dončić and James, he might be the most logical realistic option for next season.

James has a player option for the 2025-26 season, and he may choose to opt out and re-sign for less than max value—as he did a year ago. Like last offseason, however, it's likely that he'll want to sign for just below max value and not on a true team-friendly deal.

Things could change, of course, but it doesn't sound as if James is happy enough with Rob Pelinka and Co. to do the Lakers front office any financial favors.

"As we’ve reported at The Athletic multiple times—and it hasn’t just been me, Sam Amick has also reported this—the relationship has been a little frosty at times. It hasn’t always been the warmest over the past couple of years," The Athletic's Jovan Buha said on Buha's Block (beginning around the 30:55 mark).

Now, James could surprise folks and retire, sign with another team or agree to sign for a bargain contract so that L.A. can add more this offseason. However, the Lakers are unlikely to have a ton of cap flexibility in free agency. That may take Myles Turner off of the proverbial table.

Los Angeles probably won't be able to trade for a young top-tier center either. Austin Reaves remains the Lakers' biggest trade chip, but packaging him and a few draft picks won't be enough to bring back a star.

Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times reported on May 15 that L.A. won't be interested in trading Reaves for anything less than a star:

"If the Lakers are going to trade him for a center, they’re going to want one that is foundationally important — a build-around type and not a fill-in toward the obvious need they have at center (and will need to address in other ways)."

It would seem that the Lakers' plan is to build around Dončić, James and Reaves for at least one more season, which would necessitate that fill-in center. It would also seem that L.A.'s best avenue for adding said center will come via the mid-level exception—either the non-taxpayer or the taxpayer, depending on the franchise's approach and other corresponding moves.

There's no guarantee, of course, that Lopez would be interested in joining the Lakers on the MLE after making $23 million in each of the past two years. However, convincing him to do it is probably a much more realistic option than some other hypotheticals that Lakers fans will encounter in the coming weeks.

It's an option the team must target, unless something in the team's plans and/or financial outlook dramatically changes in the coming weeks.