Lakers Offseason Chaos: Gafford Trade Talks Heat Up

The Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason, already chaotic, found a new twist this week. Another familiar name slipped away, this time to the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two-year deal, and with it went one more potential answer to a roster that still has holes.

For a franchise that has just undergone a second ownership change in 14 months, the summer has felt less like a plan and more like a storm. One move, though, did cut through the noise.

Kessler secured, question mark behind him

The Lakers finally landed their long-chased big man, Walker Kessler, in a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz. It ended what Khobi Price of the California Post called a “multiyear saga” to bring the 7-foot-2, 245-pound center to Los Angeles and pair him with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

On paper, it’s exactly the type of frontcourt presence Doncic thrives alongside: size, rim protection, vertical spacing. The kind of anchor that can tilt a playoff series.

But there’s a catch. Kessler played only five games last season. For all the optimism about his fit, the reality is blunt — if he misses time, the Lakers are exposed. The backup center spot isn’t just a luxury; it’s a looming problem.

And the market has dried up.

At this stage of the offseason, there are no “flattering” big-man options left in free agency. The Lakers don’t need a star behind Kessler, but they do need someone capable of soaking up major minutes if injuries strike. Someone who can hold the line in May, not just survive in January.

That’s where one familiar name keeps circling back.

Gafford on the board

Daniel Gafford has hovered on the Lakers’ radar almost from the moment Doncic landed in Los Angeles 19 months ago. The Dallas Mavericks center, who found his stride next to Doncic during the Mavs’ run to the 2024 NBA Finals, fits the profile: athletic, productive, and already proven alongside the Lakers’ franchise player.

And Dallas, crucially, has been listening.

NBA insider Brett Siegel reported that as the Mavericks explored trade scenarios for Klay Thompson — who ultimately signed with the Miami Heat — they also shopped Gafford.

“(The Mavs) believed that they could get something (in a trade for Thompson),” Siegel said. “There was nothing there. They were talking with teams about Daniel Gafford, about potentially trading him. Again, nothing really ever happened there.”

Nothing yet. But the fact that Dallas opened the door at all is a signal. If the Mavericks are willing to move Gafford, the Lakers have every reason to at least try to walk through.

The fit is obvious. The path is not.

Gafford, a 2019 first-round pick, blossomed in 2023-24 as Dallas’ starting center, averaging 11.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game during the Finals run. He gave the Mavericks rim protection, lob finishing, and a clear synergy with Doncic in the two-man game.

For the Lakers, that résumé checks two crucial boxes: he fills the need for another reliable big, and he arrives with built-in chemistry with their superstar.

The problem lies in what it would cost to get him.

The Kessler trade already drained much of the Lakers’ asset pool. Price laid out the constraints bluntly: without Jonathan Kuminga, who was a key piece they failed to land, the fifth starter is almost certainly coming from within. The free-agent wing/forward market has been stripped clean of starting-caliber or near-starting-caliber options for contenders. Those players are hard to trade for, and the Lakers “lack the draft capital to credibly make a deal.”

That limitation applies to any serious pursuit of Gafford.

The 27-year-old is owed roughly $17 million next season. To match salary, the Lakers would likely need to move someone like Jarred Vanderbilt, who is set to make about $12 million. On top of that, word around the league is that Dallas wants a first-round pick in any Gafford deal — a price the Lakers simply can’t pay right now.

This is where timing and leverage come into play.

Waiting game in Dallas

If no team meets the Mavericks’ asking price, the market has a way of cooling even the firmest demands. Dallas can posture around a first-round pick now, but if interest remains muted, the conversation changes. Expensive centers without a clear long-term role rarely grow more valuable as the season approaches.

That’s the window the Lakers have to monitor.

They can’t conjure draft picks out of thin air, and they can’t afford to strip what little depth they have left just to chase a name. But if Dallas softens its stance, if the price slides from “future-shaping” to “manageable,” Gafford becomes something else entirely: a realistic solution to a very real problem.

For now, the Lakers live in the in-between. They have their new starting center in Kessler, the star he’s meant to complement in Doncic, and a roster that still feels one big man short of being built for the grind of a deep postseason run.

Dallas has the piece that fits. The question is whether the market — and the Mavericks’ resolve — will bend enough to let Los Angeles reach for it before the season tips off.