{"id":148376,"date":"2025-07-01T22:19:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T02:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=148376"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:19:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T02:19:46","slug":"lakers-centers-trade-rumors-suns-pelicans-blazers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/01\/lakers-centers-trade-rumors-suns-pelicans-blazers\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Discussing Trades for Three Young Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things are heating up on the Lakers trade market, a notable development amid their <\/span>chases in free agency<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Discussing Trades for Three Young Centers<\/b><\/h2>\n

McMenamin: Lakers Have Several Trade Avenues<\/b><\/h3>\n

During appearances on <\/span>ESPN Los Angeles radio<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>\u201cNBA Today,\u201d<\/span><\/a> Lakers writer Dave McMenamin confirmed the Lakers are discussing numerous trade scenarios.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know one of the scenarios involves another team also dealing with the team that has the center,\u201d McMenamin told ESPN Los Angeles. \u201cAnd the Lakers feel like when and if that trade goes through, there will be a surplus center on the roster, and the Lakers would be able to negotiate for that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that the team\u2019s strategy shifted once <\/span>Brook Lopez<\/span><\/a> joined the Clippers<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lakers had very keen interest in Brook Lopez,\u201d <\/span>he told \u201cNBA Today.\u201d<\/span><\/a> \u201cOnce he came off the board, \u2026 I’m told the thesis is youth and athleticism. \u2026 Switchable, young defenders, multiple bodies coming at you in waves, and they are trying to achieve a center that can play that way.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Siegel: Lakers Talking with Conference Rivals<\/b><\/h3>\n

ClutchPoints\u2019 Brett Siegel added to the intrigue hours later. In a post on X, he noted <\/span>the Lakers have \u201cheld talks\u201d<\/span><\/a> with Phoenix for <\/span>Nick Richards<\/span><\/a>, New Orleans for Yves Missi<\/a> and Portland for Robert Williams III<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nick Richards<\/b><\/h4>\n

The <\/span>Lakers\u2019 interest in Richards<\/span><\/a> dates back to last offseason, and it makes sense why they\u2019ve kept him in mind one year later. The 27-year-old, known for his rebounding and interior toughness, did well as Phoenix\u2019s starter following a January trade. In 36 games (34 starts), he averaged 9.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.8 blocks. He also shot 59% from the field and 74% from the free-throw line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Richards checks the boxes in terms of athleticism, youth and defense. The fact that he\u2019s making $5 million next season should make a potential trade easier than others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yves Missi<\/b><\/h4>\n

Unlike Richards and Williams III, Missi is a relatively new target. However, he\u2019s another decent option on a team-friendly deal. The 21st pick in last year\u2019s draft was a <\/span>key constant amid a disastrous season<\/span><\/a> for the Pelicans. In 73 games (67 starts), he put up 9.1 points (54.7% FG), 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Dec 7, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi (21) dunks against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An agile and versatile big at 6\u201911\u201d and 235 pounds, <\/span>Missi<\/span><\/a> boasts tremendous athleticism and a strong frame. He can not only <\/span>soar for highlight slams<\/span><\/a>, but also exhibits solid post moves and chases second-chance opportunities (3.5 OREB\/game). The fact that he\u2019s done this at 21 years old (after <\/span>starting to play basketball at 14<\/span><\/a>) is all the more impressive. While acquiring former Pelicans led to hits and misses for the Lakers, Missi could further his growth with the purple and gold.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Williams III<\/b><\/h4>\n

Finally, Williams III, though a longtime Lakers trade target, still deserves some consideration. An athletic, defensive-minded and undersized big man, the \u201cTime Lord\u201d has shown flashes of potential in Portland. Despite playing only 20 games (3 starts) due to injury, he put up 5.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks on 64% shooting from the field and 88% from the line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earning $13.2 million on an expiring four-year contract, Williams would be a decent fit if not for lingering injuries and subpar production. He\u2019s shown plenty of heart over height at 6\u20199\u201d and 237 pounds, and has impressive athleticism like Missi and Richards. However, the lack of reliability is a significant red flag, especially for a team that\u2019s been pummeled by the injury bug over the last few years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Things are heating up on the Lakers trade market, a notable development amid their chases in free agency. Lakers Discussing Trades for Three Young Centers McMenamin: Lakers Have Several Trade Avenues During appearances on ESPN Los Angeles radio and \u201cNBA Today,\u201d Lakers writer Dave McMenamin confirmed the Lakers are discussing numerous trade scenarios. \u201cI know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":148380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,33,3,28,23,4721],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-pelicans","category-news","category-suns","category-trailblazers","category-trade-rumors"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148376"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148386,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148376\/revisions\/148386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}