The Los Angeles Lakers might have traded for Luka Doncic to pair with LeBron James, but it became clear in the first round of the playoffs that the roster needs a little bit more retooling to truly contend with James in the twilight of his career.
In all honesty, a complete overhaul might be necessary in order to vault the Lakers back into contention. Well, the Utah Jazz selecting Ace Bailey with the No. 5 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft might have just opened that door for president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka.
With reports confirming that the Jazz will keep Bailey, who didn't work out for a single team before Wednesday night, the Lakers should set their sights on Lauri Markkanen.
Lakers should call the Jazz about Lauri Markkanen trade after Ace Bailey pick
It is no guarantee that the Jazz will move Markkanen. However, forward John Collins picked up his $26.2 million player option, which creates a logjam in the front court.
As presently constructed, Utah now has Bailey, Markkanen, Collins and Walker Kessler. The latter is the only true center of those options, which means one of Markkanen, Collins or Bailey would have to open games on the bench ... unless the Jazz sit Kessler and completely abandon the concept of defense.
This could be the perfect opportunity for the ever-stubborn Danny Ainge to finally cash in on Markkanen. The Lakers have the assets to pull off such a trade thanks to Pelinka taking Nico Harrison to the cleaners in the Doncic negotiation.
The Lakers managed to hold on to Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht and the all-important unprotected 2031 first-round pick in the Doncic negotiations.
Speaking strictly in terms of draft capital, Los Angeles can offer their 2031 unprotected first and four swaps (2026, 2028, 2030, 2032) or an unprotected 2032 first and four swaps (2026, 2028, 2030, 2031) in trades, per Tom Haberstroh of Yahoo Sports. They also have Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber and Gabe Vincent to offer to match salaries.
Ainge is one of the most stingy general managers in the NBA. Trading for Markkanen will be expensive, but his floor-stretching ability is the perfect complement to LeBron -- and Doncic.
The Lakers didn't give the Timberwolves much of a fight in the first round. If they intend to contend again before James retires, they need to make another big swing. Markkanen might not be the biggest swing in terms of stardom, but he might be the best fit on paper.