The Los Angeles Lakers will approach the 2025 offseason with an utmost urgency.
Right after their season was pounded to dust by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a humiliating first-round upset in the NBA Playoffs, the purple and gold are determined to retool and run things back.
In their five-game downfall against Minnesota, the LA Lakers’ center void was completely exposed.
While it was Anthony Edwards who served as the main problem for the Lakers throughout the series, it was meanwhile Rudy Gobert who completely turned the tide against them when it mattered the most.
The French big man owned the entire paint for both teams, and his 27-point, 24-rebound Game 5 clincher performance was a resounding wake-up call at the side of the Lakers.
The Lakers made desperate moves to address their big man needs this season, but all of these didn’t work according to plan.
Following the Luka Doncic mega deal, the Lakeshow landed another major acquisition by getting Mark Williams. But a week later, the trade with the Charlotte Hornets was rescinded out of the young big man’s failed medical exam.
As the trade deadline was already over, LA had little options. They moved to sign free agent Alex Len, but the veteran big man was beyond horrendous and unplayable that left the entire Lakers fanbase disgruntled.
General manager Rob Pelinka is now in a pressurized position to give the team an ideal center following Jaxson Hayes’ disappointing postseason play.
Out of several bigs that will be on the market, former NBA star Andrew Bogut proposed an intriguing name that may be considerable enough for the Lakers to pursue this summer.
“Can Steven Adams start with his body over 82 games? I don’t know. That’s the issue. I think he’s definitely got some injury issues that are going to be long term,” the former Golden State Warriors champion center said on his The Rogue Bogues Podcast.
“Clint Capela is a good one. He’s been relatively healthy for the most part of his career. Hasn’t had any really bad injuries.
“Real good lob threat. Great shot blocker. That’s definitely an option as well.”
Holding an expiring $22.2M salary, Clint Capela is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Since 2020, the Swiss center imposed himself as the anchor of the Atlanta Hawks. He formed an incredible pick-and-roll tandem with Trae Young while also being the team’s massive stalwart under the glass.
But the 2024-25 campaign served as a tough one for Capela. He endured an injury-plagued this year in which he only appeared for 55 games. From being the Hawks’ starting center, his role diminished as well leading to 8.9 points average to go with 8.5 boards in over 21 minutes of play.
Out of these factors, it’s been highly presumed that Capela will part ways with Atlanta this summer.
Since his Houston Rockets days, Capela established his case as one of the best rim-running bigs in the league with his length and athleticism. At age 30, he still might have plenty of gas left in his tank to potentially get paired alongside Doncic and James.
Time will only tell what would the Lakers do this offseason, but going after Capela seems good enough to seize for the franchise to finally fill that center hole.
