{"id":52220,"date":"2025-05-23T17:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T17:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/52220\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T17:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T17:35:11","slug":"lakers-linked-with-hawks-big-man-onyeka-okongwu-lob-threat-athleticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/52220\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Linked With Hawks’ Big Man Onyeka Okongwu: “Lob Threat, Athleticism…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> saw their season come to an end after a swift first-round exit, courtesy of the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>. But the loss may have been the key to triggering new growth, as it helped the team outline the necessary moves they needed to make in the offseason.<\/p>\n

The team’s offseason plan was made abundantly clear during the team’s last press conference of the season. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka<\/a> highlighted their need for a big man<\/a>, specifically an athletic big man who could be a defensive threat or a floor-spacing big.<\/p>\n

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While the player profile covers a vast spectrum, it is quite evident that the Lakers are looking for a player who can run the floor with their star, Luka Doncic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin appeared on “Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre<\/a>” to reveal the kind of players who the Purple and Gold had shown an interest in. While referring to the team’s links to Charlotte Hornets big man Mark Williams<\/a>, McMenamin said:<\/p>\n

“I do know the Lakers made a call to the Hawks around the trade deadline about Okongwu. I think lob threat, athleticism, absolutely. In terms of being a perfect fit, maybe not. They might not get a perfect fit, though.”<\/p>\n

Atlanta Hawks<\/a> center Onyeka Okongwu would make for an interesting pick-up if the Lakers choose to pursue it. The Hawks’ center is only 24 years old and played in a total of 74 games last season. This kind of durability is appreciated for a Lakers team that had grown accustomed to having injury-prone big men grace the roster.<\/p>\n

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Okongwu notched a solid average of 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds on 56.7% shooting from the field. Although he doesn’t boast as much defensive upside as Williams, he is an incredibly athletic center with a lot of potential to pair well with a playmaker in the pick-and-roll.<\/p>\n

The USC product has been on the receiving end of some great lobs by Hawks guard Trae Young<\/a>. Given how effective Young is at facilitating easy baskets for rim-running bigs, it is quite evident that Doncic may be able to bring the most out of him as well.<\/p>\n

Being able to pair well with the Slovenian is a big parameter for the Lakers. This aspect has seen the team linked to several players, both in free agency as well as the trade market.<\/p>\n

From trade targets like Daniel Gafford<\/a> and Nic Claxton<\/a> to upcoming free agents like Clint Capela<\/a>\u00a0and Brook Lopez<\/a>, the Purple and Gold have kept their radar open.<\/p>\n

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McMenamin also made an important addition to his statement by mentioning that the Lakers will have the taxpayer mid-level exception available to them. While it will be difficult for the Lakers to acquire a legitimate center under normal circumstances, there have been trade proposals<\/a>\u00a0that facilitate Capela joining them using it.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Purple and Gold have also been included as part of some blockbuster deals involving some superstars<\/a>. However, these ideas may not align with the team’s offseason plans.<\/p>\n

Related: NBA Rumors: 4 Veterans The Lakers Could Acquire This Offseason<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers saw their season come to an end after a swift first-round exit, courtesy of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,369,473,984,2619,8095,677,13704,150,368,1011,152,6,2728,493,494],"class_list":{"0":"post-52220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-brook-lopez","13":"tag-charlotte-hornets","14":"tag-clint-capela","15":"tag-daniel-gafford","16":"tag-dave-mcmenamin","17":"tag-hawks","18":"tag-jason-mcintyre","19":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","20":"tag-luka-doncic","21":"tag-mark-williams","22":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","23":"tag-nba","24":"tag-nic-claxton","25":"tag-onyeka-okongwu","26":"tag-trae-young"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114558358392136968","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}