The Los Angeles Lakers are in desperate need of a center. They were eliminated in five games of the opening round of the NBA Playoffs at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who imposed their will on the inside, taking advantage of a Lakers team playing Dorian Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura at center.
For the Lakers to also get the most out of their new toy, Luka Doncic, he needs a rim-rolling lob threat and shot blocker patrolling the paint. A big reason he made the NBA Finals last season with the Dallas Mavericks was because he had Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford checking in and out for each other, and both bring that energy in the paint.
Bailey Bassett of ClutchPoints proposed four trades for the Lakers to make, including reuniting Gafford with Luka Doncic in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt, and a 2031 first-round pick. Could Rob Pelinka convince Nico Harrison to make another trade considering how much heat Harrison has taken since the Doncic deal?
Probably not, but you can’t count on Harrison to do anything right anymore. He should’ve gotten Knecht and the 2031 pick in the initial deal, but Pelinka kept talking him down on the terms of the trade. Getting them for Gafford wouldn’t make it any better.
And while Vanderbilt has no offensive game whatsoever, he’s an elite defender, so he’d fit Harrison’s “Defense wins championships” mantra perfectly.
There are some legs to this, too. After Luka Doncic made his return to the American Airlines Center, he and Gafford could be overheard exchanging pleasantries, with Doncic saying “We’ll play again.”
There were some rumblings of Gafford joining the Slovenian national team to play with Doncic last year, but that ended up not happening. Could Doncic be referring to that? Or is Doncic going to push for the Lakers to acquire Gafford this offseason?
