Lakers Offseason: Kessler Trade and Gafford's Future
The Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason has felt less like a plan and more like a plot twist.
Another one landed this week, when a name Lakers fans are exhausted of hearing signed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, adding one more sharp edge to a summer already defined by turbulence and a second ownership change in just 14 months.
The fallout is simple: the Lakers still have holes, and the options to fill them are shrinking fast.
Kessler in Place, Question Still Hanging
The franchise did solve its biggest on-court need. Walker Kessler finally arrived in Los Angeles, pried loose from the Utah Jazz in a sign-and-trade that took years of pursuit and a heavy price in assets.
“The Lakers filled their biggest need by landing Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Jazz to pair the 7-foot-2, 245-pound big man alongside (Luka) Doncic and (Austin) Reaves — ending a multiyear saga of attempting to bring Kessler to Los Angeles and finally giving Doncic the type of big man he typically thrives alongside,” Khobi Price wrote for the California Post.
That’s the good news. The bad news: Kessler played just five games last season.
So the question that matters in October isn’t just what Kessler can be for this team. It’s what happens when he sits. Whether that’s for a night in January or a month with an injury, the Lakers currently don’t have a convincing answer behind him at center.
Free agency offers very little now. The market has been picked clean of impact bigs. The Lakers don’t need another star, but they do need someone who can survive, and even thrive, in heavy minutes if Kessler’s body doesn’t cooperate.
That’s where an old friend of Luka Doncic comes into focus.
Gafford on the Board
Daniel Gafford’s name has hovered around the Lakers ever since Doncic was traded to Los Angeles 19 months ago. The connection is obvious. So is the fit.
According to NBA insider Brett Siegel, as the Dallas Mavericks canvassed the league for possible Klay Thompson trades — a pursuit that ended with Thompson signing with the Miami Heat in free agency — they also quietly explored moving Gafford.
“(The Mavs) believed that they could get something (in a trade for Thompson),” Siegel reported this week. “… There was nothing there. They were talking with teams about Daniel Gafford, about potentially trading him. Again, nothing really ever happened there.”
Nothing happened then. That doesn’t mean nothing will happen next.
Dallas’ willingness to listen on Gafford, a 2019 first-round pick, is a flashing green light for a team like the Lakers, who desperately need a reliable second big and would almost certainly be interested if the price lands in their range.
The problem: that range is tight.
A Thin War Chest
The Kessler trade didn’t just reshape the Lakers’ frontcourt; it drained much of their flexibility.
“Without (Jonthan) Kuminga, the answer to who’ll be their fifth starter is likely already on the team. Every other starting-caliber or pseudo starting-caliber wing/forward free agent for a team looking to contend in the playoffs has already been signed. Those types of players aren’t easy to trade for, and the Lakers lack the draft capital to credibly make a deal,” Price wrote.
That same reality applies to any serious pursuit of Gafford.
On the floor, he checks every box. During the Mavericks’ 2023-24 run to the NBA Finals, Gafford broke out as their starting center, averaging 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He finished plays, protected the rim and, crucially for the Lakers, showed he could mesh with Doncic at a high level.
He’s 27, athletic, and already understands how to operate next to a ball-dominant superstar. For a team trying to build a functional ecosystem around Doncic and Reaves, that’s not a luxury. It’s a blueprint.
The math is harder.
Gafford is owed roughly $17 million next season. To get there, the Lakers would almost certainly have to send out someone like Jarred Vanderbilt, who is on the books for around $12 million. That’s before even addressing Dallas’ expected demand for a first-round pick — a currency the Lakers simply don’t have available to trade right now.
So the Lakers wait. And watch.
A Waiting Game in Dallas
For now, the leverage sits in Dallas. The Mavericks can hold Gafford, keep a proven Finals-caliber center in their rotation and walk into the season with security behind their stars.
But markets shift. If no team is willing to meet the initial asking price, the Mavs may have to decide how badly they want to move his money or retool their roster. That’s where a team like the Lakers, light on picks but able to offer rotation pieces and financial relief, can creep back into the conversation.
Los Angeles has already committed to Kessler as the anchor. That part is done. The next move is about protection — about making sure one injury doesn’t send a season built around Doncic and a fragile frontcourt crashing down.
If the price on Daniel Gafford cools, the Lakers will be right there. The only question is whether they can afford to wait as long as Dallas can.
