The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of big roster decisions to make this summer following an early playoff exit. The main area that the Lakers are expected to look into is within the frontcourt.
The team doesn't have a starting caliber center on the roster, and it will be up to the front office to get creative to find one. Los Angeles has been linked with multiple names so far this offseason, but they realistically can only go after a few players.
One of those is Daniel Gafford from the Dallas Mavericks, who has plenty of experience playing alongside star guard Luka Doncic. Gafford has been a highly-talked about name for the Lakers, but whether Dallas would be open to a deal remains to be seen.
Landing Gafford won't be easy, especially considering the lack of tradable assets that the Lakers have. But on a recent episode of Buha's Block, Lakers insider Jovan Buha suggested what it may take for Los Angeles to land Gafford.
Buha suggested that Los Angeles would likely need to overpay due to the perception of the Mavericks after the Doncic trade.
"They probably have to overpay," Buha said. "It would probably have to be something like … Gabe [Vincent], Dalton [Knecht] and a first (round pick) for Gafford. And that's a lot."
Losing both a first-round pick and Dalton Knecht for Gafford would be a tough pill to swallow for the Lakers. Los Angeles only has a few pieces of value to trade this summer, and they would be moving on from both in this deal.
But the Lakers also desperately need a center, and the entire NBA knows it. Los Angeles may have to overpay in order to land a quality big this offseason, and at least Gafford has shown he can play effectively alongside Doncic.
Gafford doesn't space the floor on offense, but he could be very effective as a rim-running, defensive center for Los Angeles. The veteran averaged 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.8 blocks over 21.5 minutes a game.
The Mavericks center would check a lot of boxes for the Lakers, but whether Los Angeles wants to overpay remains to be seen. General manager Rob Pelinka has a lot of pressure to build a contending team, and it could cause some drastic measures to be taken.
