The Lakers‘ lack of size cost them dearly against the Timberwolves in the 2025 NBA playoffs. JJ Redick’s men gave up 50.0 points in the paint through five games, including 13.0 offensive rebounds per contest.
The franchise is expected to aggressively pursue defensive-minded bigs in the 2025 offseason through both free agency and trades. One such big man who could land on the Lakers is Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, most rival teams view Porzingis as “the most movable Boston vet” due to his expiring 30.7 million contract. In light of those reports, Fadeaway World floated a potential Lakers trade that would see Porzingis move to Los Angeles and Rui Hachimura to Boston.
Lakers would receive: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics would receive: Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber, a 2030 first-round pick swap, and a 2032 first-round pick swap
The Only Way Lakers Trade Reaves?
The writer argued that Porzingis, with his shot-blocking and rim-running ability, would be the perfect center to play alongside Luka Doncic.
“His ability to stretch the floor while protecting the rim would be a massive upgrade over the current Lakers starter, Jaxson Hayes, especially as Los Angeles searches for frontcourt help after trading Anthony Davis to Dallas in the blockbuster Luka Doncic deal,” he wrote.
The hypothetical deal would mean the Lakers retain their Big 3 of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who combined to average 72.8 points per game in 2024-25.
According to Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike, the Lakers still value Reaves — despite his poor performance in the playoffs — and would trade him under only one condition.
“[Reaves] is not viewed as “untradeable” because almost no one in the NBA is untradeable,” Woike wrote in his newsletter on May 15.
“But if the Lakers are going to trade him for a center, they’re going to want one that is foundationally important — a build-around type and not a fill-in toward the obvious need they have at center (and will need to address in other ways).
Porzingis to Play EuroBakset
“If one of the best centers in the NBA were available, the conversations might be different, but at least now, during the first part of the offseason, that just isn’t the case.”
With the Celtics looking to shed some salary ahead of the 2025-26 season — to presumably get under the luxury tax second apron — the likes of Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White could all be made available, via multiple insiders.
However, some have expressed concerns over Porzingis’ health after he missed many games in both the regular season and playoffs due to illness. Still, he is expected to play for Latvia in the EuroBasket tournament in August—a good sign for teams targeting him via trades.
“Despite experiencing problems with breathing—something head coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned after Game 5 of the series against the Knicks—Porzingis is still expected to be ready and cleared to play at EuroBasket, which will be held in his home country of Latvia,” read a report from Eurohoops.
Kristaps Porzingis averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks for the Celtics from 42 regular-season games. He managed only 7.7 points in seven playoff games.
