Lakers Frontcourt Dilemma: Options After Kuminga's Departure
The Los Angeles Lakers built their summer around one big swing. Jonathan Kuminga chose Minnesota instead.
That decision, sending the explosive forward to a Western Conference rival, has left the Lakers staring at a frontcourt gap they thought would be filled by now. As Khobi Price of the California Post detailed, the miss on Kuminga comes with a harsh financial reality: the Lakers sit just $8.1 million below the NBA’s $209 million first-apron line and are hard-capped for the 2026-27 season. Sixteen guaranteed contracts already crowd the roster.
Room to maneuver exists only on paper. In practice, it’s a tight squeeze.
A Thin Market, a Thinner Margin
The needs are obvious and not especially glamorous: a power forward and a backup center. One of those boxes has to be checked before training camp opens in a month, or the Lakers risk walking into the season with a frontcourt held together by hope and duct tape.
The backup center spot may be the more urgent concern. Walker Kessler, the new starting big acquired from the Utah Jazz in a blockbuster sign-and-trade in July, appeared in just five games last season. Counting on him without a reliable safety net would be reckless.
Price reports that the Lakers have zeroed in on two names to shore up that depth: Milwaukee Bucks center Jericho Sims and Chicago Bulls big man Jalen Smith.
It’s not a star chase. It’s survival mode.
The problem: the market for big men is upside down. Demand is high, supply of quality options is low, and the Lakers’ asset cupboard is nearly bare. They own only their 2033 second-round pick outright, plus a pair of second-rounders from the Washington Wizards in 2031 and 2032 after swapping Deandre Ayton for Jaden Hardy. Their lone first-rounder they can cleanly move sits in 2032. Beyond that, the trade chips are mostly players on deals that could turn into expiring contracts if team options for 2027-28 are declined, such as Hardy and Dalton Knecht.
That’s not the arsenal of a team ready to outbid half the league.
Sims: A Vertical Threat, If the Price Is Right
Within those constraints, Jericho Sims stands out as a realistic target. At 27, he’s entering his physical prime, and Price notes that his situation in Milwaukee could make him movable. The Bucks have him slotted as their third center behind Myles Turner and Kel’el Ware, a luxury on a contender that might be willing to listen if the right offer appears.
For the Lakers, the appeal is obvious. Sims is a pure run-and-jump big, a vertical spacer who thrives as a lob target and rebounder. Dan Woike of The Athletic framed him as the kind of athlete you want around Luka Doncic: big, bouncy, and willing to do the dirty work above the rim.
There are caveats. Scouts question his defense away from the basket, and he has yet to show he can consistently impact games over long stretches. He’s a specialist, not a solution to every problem.
But specialists matter on capped-out rosters. Sims wouldn’t cost a king’s ransom; second-round draft capital might be enough to “pry him loose,” as Woike put it. For a team boxed in financially and short on picks, that kind of low-cost, high-utility move is exactly the lane they’re forced to drive in.
Smith: Motor, Shooting, and a Complicated Price Tag
Jalen Smith offers a different profile. At 26, he’s a smaller big at 6-foot-8, but he brings a high motor and a developing outside shot that has impressed people inside the Lakers’ building. Stretch capability from a backup big would add a dimension this roster currently lacks.
The catch is the contract and the context.
Smith has one year and $9.5 million left on his deal, a hefty number for a team tiptoeing around the apron. He’s also undersized for a traditional center role, which complicates his fit if the Lakers view him as the primary insurance behind Kessler rather than a small-ball option.
There’s also the Bulls’ stance. The previous Chicago regime liked him, which muddies his availability. If the new decision-makers feel the same way, extracting him becomes expensive. Too expensive for a team with so few bullets to fire.
So the Lakers face a familiar dilemma: do they burn rare assets on a player who solves only part of the problem, or do they hold their ground and hope a cleaner opportunity emerges later in the season?
A Frontcourt on a Knife’s Edge
Strip away the cap mechanics and draft-pick charts, and the situation is stark. The Lakers built around Doncic and Kessler, envisioned Kuminga as the dynamic forward to tie it together, and ended up watching him join the Timberwolves instead. Now they’re scrambling for functional size.
Sims brings vertical pop and rim pressure. Smith brings shooting and energy. Neither is a cure-all. Both, in different ways, would at least stabilize a frontcourt that currently leans too heavily on a big man coming off a five-game season.
This is what life looks like for a contender living at the edge of the cap: no splashy Plan B, just a series of calculated gambles on role players who can tilt a playoff series by doing the little things well.
The Lakers still have a month before camp. One move, maybe two, will define how secure they feel about the bodies in front of the rim.
If they get it wrong, will they be able to fix it once the games start to matter?
