The NBA’s free agency period commences on Monday, and the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to make a couple of moves in it. Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane recently listed out the players he’d want the team to target with their taxpayer mid-level exception and for the veteran minimum.
Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception:
– Clint Capela
– Brook Lopez
– Luke Kornet
– Bruce Brown
– Kevon Looney
– Jake LaRavia
The Lakers need both a starter and a backup at the five, so it’s no surprise that four of the six players listed here are centers. Let’s have a look at each of them.
Capela averaged 8.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game for the Atlanta Hawks in 2024-25. Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus has predicted that the Lakers would land Capela with the taxpayer mid-level exception, and his defense and rebounding are certainly something this team needs.
We get to Lopez next, who has reportedly been a target for the Lakers for a few years now. He averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024-25. Lopez isn’t a great rebounder, but he provides spacing, having shot 37.3% from beyond the arc last season.
Lakers insider Anthony Irwin had also named Capela and Lopez as players the team was targeting for that backup center spot. These two are certainly worth keeping an eye on.
As for Kornet, he averaged 6.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game for the Boston Celtics in 2024-25. He’d be a solid backup option, which was the role he played ever so well for the Celtics.
Looney was the last of the centers, and he averaged 4.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game for the Golden State Warriors in 2024-25. He has spent all 10 seasons of his NBA career with the Warriors, but has seen his playing time go down lately. Perhaps a parting of ways is finally on the cards, and Looney, with his championship experience, would be a quality pickup for the Lakers.
Brown is the only backcourt player listed here, and he is another who has reportedly been a target for the Lakers for quite some time now. He averaged 8.3 points, 4.0 rebounds. 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game for the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans in 2024-25.
Brown is no longer the player he was when he helped the Denver Nuggets win the title in 2023, but he would be a solid addition nonetheless.
Lastly, we get to the 23-year-old LaRavia, who is the only non-veteran here. He averaged 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game for the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings in 2024-25. LaRavia is a versatile forward who shot 42.3% from three last season and would be a solid rotational piece.
It will be interesting to see if the Lakers land any of these six.
Veteran Minimum:
– De’Anthony Melton
– Malcolm Brogdon
– Gary Payton II
– Chris Paul
– Amir Coffey
– Dante Exum
– Gary Trent Jr.
– Jaxson Hayes
– Jericho Sims
– Larry Nance Jr
Among these options, Chris Paul is certainly the one that stands out. Paul reportedly wants to play closer to home in Los Angeles, and you’d reckon he would love to team up with his good friend LeBron James. Only time will tell, though, if they’re able to convince him or any of the other names listed here to come on board.
