Lakers reportedly unlikely to trade for Nikola Vucevic, Jakob Poeltl

While the Lakers are eyeing an upgrade at the center position, neither Jakob Poeltl or Nikola Vucevic will reportedly be among those that the team chases ahead of the trade deadline.

While Anthony Davis’ public declaration of a desire for a center on the roster drew plenty of attention, it wasn’t new news for the Lakers. On top of AD having made this request clear multiple times, the Lakers had already been linked to several centers ahead of the trade deadline.

Two of the top names on the market, though, don’t look likely to come to Los Angeles. According to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein in his latest Substack post, while the Lakers are looking for centers before the deadline, neither Jakob Poeltl of Toronto or Nikola Vučević from Chicago

Anthony Davis made it clear last week in an ESPN interview that he would like to see the Lakers to acquire a center who enables Davis to play more minutes at power forward.

It’s a sentiment that did not come as news to the Lakers, but they are indeed exploring all of their trade options for a five man after completing the acquisition of swingman Dorian Finney-Smith on Dec. 29.

Yet league sources stressed over the weekend that the Lakers are not expected to join the hunt for either Vučević or Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl...

With Vučević, the Lakers had been linked to him in the past, including having reported interest in him back in 2022. However, that was also in the context of a Russell Westbrook trade, which certainly changes how the Lakers viewed trade packages.

Now, in a different light, it makes less sense for the Lakers to acquire him, especially given his huge contract. He’s due to make $20 million this season and $21.4 million next season.

There have been no reports linking Poeltl to the Lakers, but there have been plenty of past links to Bruce Brown, a guard on the Raptors. A trade for both would have been difficult financially, but that appears to be a moot point now.

Now, that thins down the pool of centers the Lakers would pursue. The obvious names remaining are Walker Kessler of the Jazz and Jonas Valančiūnas of the Wizards. The links to the pair have been extensive and those two have long felt the most likely to be traded to the Lakers.

Now, that just seems like more of a possibility.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.