The Los Angeles Lakers made Rudy Gobert look like Wilt Chamberlain in an eventual Game 5 elimination clash on Wednesday.
Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, has had an inconsistent playoff career. Although he’s one of the league’s best rim protectors and rebounders, his relative lack of mobility beyond the painted area has at times put a hard cap on his postseason usefulness.
Teams with athletic, floor-spacing bigs — and/or teams with forwards who can play some small-ball center — have often been able to solve Gobert in the postseason.
But the Lakers, who lacked even a serviceable center this season following their trade of five-time All-NBA superstar guard Luka Doncic, absolutely could not.
In the Timberwolves’ series-clinching 103-96 Game 5 victory against Los Angeles, Gobert scored 27 points on 12-of-15 field goal attempts and 3-of-6 free throw shooting, pulled down 24 rebounds, and blocked two shots. For the series, the 32-year-old Frenchman finished with averages of 8.2 points on 57.1 percent shooting from the floor, 9.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks.
The Lakers’ second straight first round playoff loss to a team with a jumbo-sized frontcourt exposed the lie that Los Angeles as currently constructed is ready to compete for a title.
It’s time for the Lakers to replace the departure of Anthony Davis with a solid lob threat to pair with Doncic.
In a fresh piece, Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposes two intriguing Eastern Conference center options the Lakers could try to acquire via trade: Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl and Brooklyn Nets center Nicolas Claxton.
“One of the less heralded names that the Lakers should go after, Jakob Poeltl possesses a unique set of skills that could dramatically improve L.A. without costing it a ton of contracts and/or assets,” Bailey writes. “He’s had an above-average defensive estimated plus-minus (one of the most trusted catch-all metrics in NBA front offices) in each of the last six seasons, with a peak at the 98th percentile in 2020-21.”
Poeltl is owed $58.5 million across the next three seasons, although he has a $19.5 million player option for 2026-27 should he want to make a change.
“His size (he’s a legitimate seven-footer), instincts as a shot blocker and rebounding are all factors to contribute to that number and would make him a nice fit with the Lakers,” Bailey adds.
As Bailey notes, Poeltl is a better-than-average passer for his position. The 7-footer, 29, averaged 14.5 points on .627/.333/.674 shooting splits, 9.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks across 57 contests for Toronto in 2024-25.
“But what really makes him interesting might be his offense,” Bailey noted. “Like just about any other big, he would benefit from playing with a high-end creator like Luka. Unlike plenty of others, he can also return the favor a bit by passing himself and generating extra possessions.”
Bailey submits that Claxton is an even more appetizing Lakers prospect.
“Some of Nicolas Claxton’s advanced numbers have tumbled over the last couple years for bad Brooklyn Nets teams, but when he last played with stars, he looked like a rising star,” Bailey observes.
The 26-year-old is under team control through 2027-28. He’s owed $69.4 million across the next three seasons.
“In 2022-23, a season in which the Nets got 40 appearances from Kyrie Irving and 39 from Kevin Durant, Claxton started 76 games, averaged 12.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in under 30 minutes a night and shot a league-best 70.5 percent from the field,” Bailey writes. “That version of Claxton is just waiting to be reintroduced to the league, and Luka (and LeBron and Reaves) are exactly the kind of playmakers who can do that.”
Last year, Claxton averaged 10.3 points on 56.3 percent shooting from the floor and 51.3 percent shooting from the free throw line, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 0.9 steals in 70 bouts (62 starts).
As Bailey notes, Claxton would theoretically serve as an intriguing pick-and-roll partner for Doncic, 21-time All-Star power forward LeBron James, and shooting guard Austin Reaves.
