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<\/p>\nAs the Los Angeles Lakers pursue an upgrade at the center spot a new rumor has linked them to a pair of notable impact big men from the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n
The Lakers have gotten off to a solid start to the 2024-25 season. They enter Sunday\u2019s game against the Toronto Raptors with a record of 5-4 and reason for optimism. Big man Anthony Davis has gotten off to an MVP-level start, Lebron James is as effective as ever, and Austin Reaves is looking like the player he was two seasons ago.<\/p>\n
However, there are sure to be ups and downs for the team this season as the roster and new head coach JJ Redick try to gel his system with their talents. Since the summer, the Lakers have been linked to various trade chatter. But moves for an impact player have been the most prominent.<\/p>\n
While Davis has had a great start at center, Redick has made it known he would like to pair the nine-time All-Star with a traditional center. Well, on Saturday,\u00a0NBA\u00a0insider Jake Fischer\u00a0revealed a pair of interesting names the organization reportedly has on their wish list.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWith the Lakers, the trade things that we absolutely know to be true, and not to have changed \u2014 especially after seeing JJ Redick\u2019s emotional and frustrated reaction on the bench to D\u2019Angelo Russell\u2019s stepback jumper at the baseline the other night \u2014 is D\u2019Angelo Russell is going to be on the block and going to be available as outgoing salary. That\u2019s roughly $20 million dollars to play with for the Lakers,\u201d Fischer said in a Bleacher Report live stream.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the center spot is a spot we know Los Angeles has been looking to upgrade and will be looking to upgrade. We mentioned Brook Lopez, he is someone that I was told was on the Lakers\u2019 list of potential targets this summer,\u201d he added. \u201cJonas Valanciunas is another name I would keep an eye on for the future. And is someone I was told over the summer was on the Lakers internal board.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Both veteran big men have been linked to trades before the season even started. Lopez is in the final year of his contract and seems like a poor fit for the system of Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers.<\/p>\n While there is a belief around the league that Valanciunas was signed to a cap-friendly deal with the expectation he would eventually be traded by the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n Either man would be a strong addition to the Lakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the Los Angeles Lakers pursue an upgrade at the center spot a new rumor has linked them to a pair of notable impact big men from… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n