New Lakers Rumors on Luka Doncic's Appeal to Potential Trade Targets At 2026 NBA Deadline
If the Los Angeles Lakers want to add a big man before the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline, they can take solace knowing plenty of them reportedly want to play alongside Luka Dončić.
"They have the fact they're the Los Angeles Lakers, and I can just tell you, big men will do back flips to be able to be in that Lakers uniform paired with Luka," ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported Wednesday on the Hoop Collective podcast (h/t Kurt Helin of NBC Sports).
"I was talking to an agent who's got a big man who may or may not be on the move and he would love to get his guy in L.A. Big men are going to want to play with Luka that much I can assure you."
It should be noted, Helin called the Lakers' pursuit of a potential new big man "more of an offseason move than a trade deadline thing," especially after they added Deandre Ayton this past offseason.
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft has averaged 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, but he is not an elite rim-protector with 1.0 blocks a night.
That lack of dominant rim protection, especially with Dončić not exactly known as a great defender and 41-year-old LeBron James not playing defense like he did at his peak, has been a problem for Los Angeles this season.
It is an ugly 25th in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com, and likely has a ceiling in place because of its issues on that side of the floor if something doesn't change by playoff time.
But adding an impact big man, even in the upcoming offseason, could drastically raise that ceiling in the coming years with Dončić leading the way even if James retires or ends up on a different team to end his career.
Dončić's defensive shortcomings make it all the more important to have someone protecting the rim, but he is also at his best offensively when there is an athletic option in the paint who can finish his lob passes when the defense collapses on his penetration or ventures too far out to deal with his outside shooting.
The Dallas Mavericks advanced to the 2024 NBA Finals with players such as Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford dunking home his lobs, and the Lakers may look to recreate that in the coming seasons.
And it sounds like there are plenty of big men who would be interested in such a role.
