{"id":4131,"date":"2024-11-24T08:29:25","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T08:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=4131"},"modified":"2024-11-24T08:29:25","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T08:29:25","slug":"breaking-lakers-linked-to-trade-for-30-million-big-man-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=4131","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Lakers Linked to Trade for $30 Million Big Man: Report.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Val-Lakers-e1732411567213.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Val-Lakers-e1732411567213.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Val-Lakers-e1732411567213.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Val-Lakers-e1732411567213.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Jonas Valanciunas, Lakers\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" data-img-load-time=\"290\" data-dom-ready-time=\"334\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Heavy on Lakers<\/span>Washington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas is a trade target of the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0are off to a hot start and looking to bolster the frontline alongside star big man\u00a0Anthony Davis\u00a0ahead of the\u00a0NBA\u00a0trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report on Saturday, November 23, linked the Lakers to a firmly established interest in\u00a0Washington Wizards\u00a0center\u00a0Jonas Valanciunas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJonas Valanciunas \u2026 is definitely a name that you continue to hear being bandied about as a Lakers trade target,\u201d\u00a0Fischer said. \u201cValanciunas is definitely available for trade in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LeBron James\u00a0mentioned Valanciunas by name during the offseason as a player for whom he might be willing to take a pay cut if the Lakers could lock him down in free agency. And while that didn\u2019t ultimately happen, the veteran center remained a player on L.A.\u2019s radar given the\u00a0$30.3 million contract\u00a0he inked with the Wizards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen he signed that contract, that three-year deal around the mid-level with Washington, most around the league looked at that as something that was going to be a very strong, tradable deal,\u201d Fischer continued.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Lakers Need to Pair Anthony Davis With Player Like Jonas Valanciunas to Ease Defensive Burden<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5188060\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5188060 visible\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2179951477-e1730494925418.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Anthony Davis, Lakers\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5188060\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2179951477-e1730494925418.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5188060\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span>Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Valanciunas would be a play to take some of the pressure off Davis as both a rebounder and an interior defender.<\/p>\n<p>Davis has been excellent in both regards this season, though he is also a focal point of the offense under new head coach\u00a0J.J. Redick. Davis is second in the league with\u00a031.3 points\u00a0per game and seventh with\u00a011.2 rebounds\u00a0per contest. He\u2019s also sixth in blocks at\u00a01.9 per outing.<\/p>\n<p>His usage rate is nearing a\u00a0career high at 31.7%, which leads the team by a wide margin and is fifth league-wide. The only time an offense ran more heavily through Davis was the 2016-17\u00a0New Orleans Pelicans\u00a0(32.6%).<\/p>\n<p>Valanciunas is a bruiser with career averages of\u00a09.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks\u00a0across his 13 years in the league. He is playing in his age-32 season and makes sense as a defensive anchor alongside Davis who can ease the burden on the nine-time All-Star, as the Lakers ask Davis to do more on offense than ever before.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Robert Williams Option for Lakers if Jonas Valanciunas Trade Doesn\u2019t Pan Out<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5097068\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5097068 visible\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1493876392-1-e1722027095558.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Robert Williams III\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5097068\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-1493876392-1-e1722027095558.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5097068\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span>Former Boston Celtics big man Robert Williams III.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another name that Fischer mentioned as a potential Lakers\u2019 trade target is\u00a0Robert Williams III\u00a0of the\u00a0Portland Trailblazers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRobert Williams III definitely generated a lot of trade interest last year from teams who were \u2026 [hoping] he would come back into play after injuries subsided,\u201d Fischer said Saturday. \u201cHe\u2019s back healthy now, and I am getting questions from scout friends of mine around the league wondering if he\u2019s potentially been too successful for Portland to part ways with him right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fischer added that the Trailblazers may seek to deal\u00a0Deandre Ayton\u00a0ahead of the deadline instead, though his contract and desire to be an offensive focal point will render him far less attractive to a team like the Lakers than a player such as Williams or Valanciunas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heavy on LakersWashington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas is a trade target of the Los Angeles Lakers. The\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0are off to a hot start and looking to&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Lakers Linked to Trade for $30 Million Big Man: Report.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=4131\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Lakers Linked to Trade for $30 Million Big Man: Report.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Heavy on LakersWashington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas is a trade target of the Los Angeles Lakers. 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