Lakers Rebuild: The Challenge of Finding Frontcourt Depth
The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the summer tearing up the blueprint and starting again.
Every starter from last season’s first-round playoff exit is gone. In their place: a wave of younger free agents and a clear mandate — put more energy, more length, and more depth around Luka Doncic. The front office has been aggressive, even ruthless.
But not everything has gone to plan.
A Miss on Kuminga, a Hole in the Frontcourt
The failed push for Jonathan Kuminga stung. The versatile forward is heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two-year deal, and his decision has left more than bruised egos in Los Angeles.
“The Lakers’ failed pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga, who is signing a two-year deal with the Timberwolves, has left them with a hole in the frontcourt,” Khobi Price wrote in the California Post.
The numbers make that hole even harder to fill.
L.A. sits just $8.1 million below the NBA’s $209 million first-apron threshold, hard-capped for the 2026-27 season and boxed in financially. Sixteen players already hold guaranteed contracts. That’s a full locker room and a tight cap sheet.
The needs are obvious. The flexibility is not. Training camp is a month away.
So the question hangs over the franchise: where do they find one more impact body up front?
P.J. Washington: Fit on Paper, Rejection in Reality
On paper, P.J. Washington checks plenty of boxes.
He has size. He can stretch the floor. He has already shown he can play off Doncic from their time together with the Dallas Mavericks. For the second straight offseason, that connection has fueled speculation that Washington could be the answer to the Lakers’ frontcourt problem.
Inside the building, though, the mood is very different.
“Off the bat, we’re starting with a player the Lakers have repeatedly said they have no interest in, if that gives you a sense of how dry the market is,” Jacob Rude wrote in a recent mailbag, capturing just how limited the options have become.
After L.A.’s early free-agency spree, many around the league pointed to Washington as the logical solution for the vacant starting spot. But multiple reports have underlined the same message from the Lakers: no interest, not at that contract.
And that contract is the sticking point.
Washington is owed a fully guaranteed $88.8 million over the next four years, nearly $90 million committed to a non-star forward at a time when the Lakers are already pressed against the apron. As Price noted, that level of long-term money simply “isn’t appealing to the Lakers.”
The fit with Doncic might be clean. The fit with the books is not.
Waiting Game: Trade Deadline Possibilities
So if not now, what about later?
The midseason trade deadline always reshapes the market. Contenders get desperate. Rebuilders get realistic. Veterans on long deals suddenly look more movable than they did in August.
Dallas could be one of those teams forced into tough decisions. The Mavericks have poured more than $300 million into their frontcourt, with Washington and Daniel Gafford taking up a hefty slice of that investment. At the same time, younger bigs are pushing for minutes and, soon enough, bigger paydays.
Something will have to give.
“I think Dallas could really stand to benefit from both P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford playing their way into greater trade value this season,” NBA insider Jake Fischer reported. His read on the market was blunt: “I haven’t heard of any team targeting P.J. Washington for some time. Daniel Gafford has had far more trade interest, to my understanding.”
That silence around Washington could eventually work in the Lakers’ favor.
If the Mavericks struggle to find a taker at their current asking price, they may be forced to soften their stance. A contract that looks unpalatable now might feel different if the cost in assets drops — especially if the Lakers are still searching for size and switchability up front.
For now, L.A. is staying away, wary of locking in another big-money deal when the cap is already creaking. But the league changes fast. One injury, one bad month, one shift in the standings, and the calculus can flip.
If the Lakers hit January still short a reliable frontcourt presence, and if Dallas grows more motivated to move salary, P.J. Washington’s name will surface again.
The only real unknown is whether, by then, the Lakers will still be in position to gamble on that kind of contract — or whether this summer’s bold reset will have already decided their season.
