The Los Angeles Lakers have been eliminated from the 2025 NBA Playoffs after losing Game 5 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was a brutal development for the Lakers, who were the higher seed and expected by many to easily qualify for the second round. Unfortunately, it’s over for LA now, and the offseason is going to be a major one.
Rudy Gobert absolutely dominated the Lakers in Game 5, exacerbating the Lakers’ complete lack of a playable center. When LeBron James was asked about this issue, he made it clear he didn’t want to express his displeasure lest he get shipped off like Anthony Davis did after he made his desire for a center clear.
“No comment. My guy, AD (Anthony Davis), said what he needed, and then he was gone the following week. I got no comment. I put that uniform on every night and I give everything I have, that’s all.”
Lebron on playing centerless basketball and whether it was tough for him:
"No comment. My guy AD said what he needed, and then he was gone the following week" 🤣 pic.twitter.com/tTYeHQ3hy8
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) May 1, 2025
Anthony Davis, before he was shipped to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic, relentlessly chased the Lakers’ front office for a center. Instead of obliging Davis, they sent him to the Mavericks to play alongside centers like Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II.
The Lakers did try to land LeBron and Luka Doncic a center at the trade deadline. They made a move for Mark Williams but called it off due to a failed medical, something Williams took great joy in pointing out after the Lakers’ Playoff exit.
It’s clear the Lakers will make a move for a center this summer, especially based on how this series ended and how Luka is known to excel alongside him.
Potential Center Targets For LA This Summer
The Lakers will target a center and only a center before they do anything else this summer. It’s such an egregious hole on their roster that not addressing it would be incredibly stupid on the part of Rob Pelinka and the front office.
LeBron is clearly joking about being scared to call the front office out over the center issue. He knows that they have no choice but to target one, primarily because the Lakers have to do everything they can to make sure Luka Doncic is happy over the summer.
He’s entering the final year of his contract and could annihilate the Lakers if he enters free agency and signs elsewhere. The Lakers can’t offer him a supermax to keep him around and are already seeing big-market teams target open cap space for the summer of 2026.
With Doncic’s potential departure hanging over the franchise, they’ll likely target elite centers like Nicolas Claxton or Myles Turner to keep Luka happy. They could even call the Mavericks again and see what they’d want for Daniel Gafford, especially with the overloaded center depth in Dallas now.
If they try to make a budget signing at the center spot, it would be the start of a disaster, as Doncic has made it clear in the past that he needs a high-level center next to him.
