Lakers' Offseason Moves: Kessler's Arrival and Gafford's Future
The Lakers’ offseason circus added another twist this week, and this one stung a little more than most.
A name Lakers fans are tired of hearing walked out the side door to sign a two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, leaving Los Angeles staring at a depth chart that still has holes and a market that’s running dry. It’s another jolt in a turbulent 14-month stretch that’s already seen the franchise change ownership twice and swing big on a new core.
The headline move, of course, was Walker Kessler.
Kessler Arrives, But Questions Linger Behind Him
“The Lakers filled their biggest need by landing Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Jazz to pair the 7-foot-2, 245-pound big man alongside (Luka) Doncic and (Austin) Reaves,” Khobi Price wrote for the California Post, noting it ended a multiyear pursuit and finally gave Doncic the kind of rim-running, shot-blocking partner he thrives with.
On paper, that part is solved. In reality, it isn’t that simple.
Kessler played just five games last season. For a franchise that has lived through too many seasons derailed by injuries to its stars and starters, trusting a center with that recent history without a reliable safety net behind him borders on reckless. The Lakers don’t just need a body. They need a backup who can play real minutes, real stakes, if Kessler’s availability becomes a storyline again.
Free agency won’t save them. The remaining big men on the market are, at best, stopgaps. The kind of players you sign to survive a Tuesday in January, not to anchor a playoff rotation in May.
So attention swings back to the trade market, where an old idea refuses to die.
The Gafford Question
Daniel Gafford’s name has hovered around Los Angeles ever since Doncic landed in purple and gold 19 months ago. The connection is obvious: he knows how to play off Luka, and he’s done it on the biggest stage.
Gafford started at center for the Dallas Mavericks during their run to the 2024 NBA Finals, averaging 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in the 2023-24 season. He set screens, rolled hard, finished lobs, protected the rim. He did the dirty work that makes a heliocentric star’s life easier. That profile fits exactly what the Lakers need behind Kessler — and, on some nights, alongside him.
Dallas has already tested the waters. According to NBA insider Brett Siegel, as the Mavericks explored sign-and-trade possibilities for Klay Thompson — who ultimately joined the Miami Heat in free agency — they also floated Gafford in conversations.
“(The Mavs) believed that they could get something (in a trade for Thompson),” Siegel reported. “… There was nothing there. They were talking with teams about Daniel Gafford, about potentially trading him. Again, nothing really ever happened there.”
Nothing yet, at least.
The mere fact the Mavericks are willing to talk Gafford is a green light for a team like the Lakers, who are searching for value in a market where most of the obvious solutions have already been signed or priced out.
A Thin War Chest, A Narrow Path
There’s a catch. Several of them.
The Kessler deal didn’t just reshape the Lakers’ frontcourt; it gutted much of their flexibility. Price spelled it out bluntly when assessing the broader roster puzzle.
“Without (Jonthan) Kuminga, the answer to who’ll be their fifth starter is likely already on the team. Every other starting-caliber or pseudo starting-caliber wing/forward free agent for a team looking to contend in the playoffs has already been signed. Those types of players aren’t easy to trade for, and the Lakers lack the draft capital to credibly make a deal,” he wrote.
That same reality applies to any Gafford pursuit.
The 27-year-old is owed roughly $17 million next season. To make the math work, the Lakers would almost certainly need to send out someone like Jarred Vanderbilt, who is on the books for about $12 million. From Dallas’ perspective, that alone isn’t enough. The word around the league is the Mavericks want a first-round pick attached to any Gafford package.
The Lakers don’t have one to give.
So the equation becomes brutally simple: Dallas has a player the Lakers need, on a contract that requires real outgoing salary, with an asking price L.A. currently cannot meet in draft capital.
The only thing that could tilt the board? Time.
If the market for Gafford stays quiet, if no team is willing to meet the Mavericks’ demands, the asking price may soften. A first-round pick might become multiple seconds. A pure value play might morph into a chance for Dallas to rebalance its own cap sheet and rotation.
From the Lakers’ side, the calculus is equally stark. They’ve finally paired Doncic with a tailor-made big in Kessler. Behind him, though, is a void. In a Western Conference that punishes every weakness, can they really afford to enter the 2026-27 season one injury away from chaos at center?
That answer may depend on how long Dallas is willing to wait — and how desperate Los Angeles becomes.
