![\"Sacramento](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/sacramento-kings-v-los-angeles-lakers-los-angeles-california-december-28-1-e1789123874816.jpg\")
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 28: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts before the game against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena on December 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
One of the biggest moves of the offseason was the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> landing rising star big man Walker Kessler<\/a> in a sign-and-trade from the Utah Jazz, with the Lakers surrendering multiple first round picks and then handing Kessler a four-year deal worth roughly $130 million.<\/p>\n Whether Kessler is enough to help the Lakers, with Luka Doncic<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a> as the main stars, contend with the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> and San Antonio Spurs<\/a> in the Western Conference is highly debatable. Then one considers that the Lakers don\u2019t even have a dependable big man to back up Kessler, especially if the 25-year-old center misses time next season.<\/p>\n L.A. has a clear hole at backup center and not much time left to address it. The free agent market has dried up, and the Lakers will find it challenging to make most trades given their limited assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Trade the Lakers Could Make<\/p>\n \n Chicago Bulls big man Jalen Smith has been commonly mentioned as a Lakers trade target. In July, The Athletic\u2019s Dan Woike reported that the Lakers have Smith on their radar. Especially after the Bulls underwent significant front office changes this offseason, Lake Show Life\u2019s Chris Lambert detailed why Smith has become an attainable target for L.A.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWith the Bulls in a rebuild after a new front office came in this summer and drafted Caleb Wilson<\/a> in this past summer\u2019s draft, Smith\u2019s expiring contract could be an asset for them,\u201d Lambert wrote. \u201cConsidering they already have Nic Claxton<\/a> and Zach Collins<\/a>, they don\u2019t necessarily need Smith. They could use him to get younger and add draft capital. The Lakers could make a rather compelling offer that includes Dalton Knecht<\/a>, Jaden Hardy<\/a>, and a second-round pick.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith isn\u2019t a \u201cstar\u201d big man, but he is coming off a strong enough season that could give the Lakers confidence in his upside. A 26-year-old big man, Smith averaged over 10 points and nearly seven rebounds per game in 53 appearances for the Bulls last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the price of a couple of modest players and a second round pick or two, Smith would be an excellent pick up for the Lakers.<\/p>\n L.A. Eyeing Smith<\/p>\n Earlier this offseason, Woike mentioned Smith among multiple big men the Lakers weighed pursuing.<\/p>\n \u201cSmith has some fans within the organization because he plays with motor and has worked himself into a pretty good outside shooter,\u201d Woike wrote. \u201cBut Smith is expensive (one-year, $9.5 million remaining on his deal) and undersized at 6 foot 8. The previous Bulls\u2019 regime was a fan of his, which puts his actual availability into question.\u201d<\/p>\n As Woike noted, Smith is smaller than the traditional big man, but he could offer ways for the Lakers to deploy versatile small ball lineups. He has the athleticism to make plays around the basket and can even hang out around the 3-point line.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is unclear if the Bulls are shopping Smith, but if Chicago can grab a couple of picks and a prospect like Knecht, perhaps that would be enough to bring Smith to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 28: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":833022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":["post-833021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-lakers","tag-basketball","tag-la","tag-la-lakers","tag-lakers","tag-lalakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleslakers","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117252395480744651","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833021","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=833021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/chicago-bulls-v-golden-state-warriors-san-francisco-california-march-10-e1788095558577.jpg\")
GettySAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA \u2013 MARCH 10: Jalen Smith<\/a> #25 of the Chicago Bulls shoots the ball against the Golden State Warriors<\/a> at Chase Center on March 10, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n