The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for a starting center, and a possible route to acquiring All-Star Joel Embiid may be available if Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is bold enough to take a chance on the injury-prone big man.
The Lakers’ series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves stemmed from a deficiency in physicality, size, and rebounding that cost the team the win
Los Angeles had the guard and wing play to match the Wolves, but Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid dominated both offensively and defensively.
The team had a few players who could switch onto the big man and deliver solid performances, but over the course of a 48-minute game, the Lakers could not match the team’s physicality.
Considering the team’s limited cap space, the Lakers will likely need to explore finding a center through trade, packaging some of their role players and potentially the 2031 first-round pick to acquire a big man or two.
“We’ll give you all of our expirings and a first, and we’ll get you out of the Joe Embiid business,” Bill Simmons said on the Bill Simmons Podcast.
The trade would be risky for the Lakers, considering how many injuries Embiid has had over his career, which appear to be chronic at this point.
The big man has undergone two knee surgeries on the lateral aspect of his left meniscus, first in 2017 and then again in 2024.
The hope for Embiid was that his meniscus would naturally heal, but instead, he experienced pain and swelling during the 2024 season.
The timetable for his return to the basketball court is unclear at this point, given that he will need to explore additional surgical options, such as a meniscus repair or transplant.
The trade would sacrifice whatever depth the team has, which is minimal, for a generational talent that might not ever play basketball again.
A move for Embiid could set the franchise back years if he cannot play consistently. However, it could lead to the Lakers having three dominant players as a core, with the ability to score at will and add a true rim-protecting big.
