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The Los Angeles Lakers are in desperate need of a center this offseason, and every team in the NBA knows it. Due to this, the Lakers could be operating from a place of disadvantage during any trade talks.
Los Angeles knows that in order to be competitive next season, adding at least two centers is a must. The frontcourt is the biggest weakness on this roster right now, but the team is doing its due diligence.
The player that Los Angeles has been eyeing heavily is center Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz. The Lakers have tried to land Kessler multiple times over the years, but the Jazz have made things very difficult.
However, Los Angeles is still showing significant interest in landing Kessler ahead of the NBA draft. Jazz insider Andy Blarsen of The Salt Lake Tribune confirmed the Lakers' heavy interest, but was skeptical of a deal going down.
“Giving up multiple picks to get there, that is on the table right now. I don't know if the Jazz take it. Certainly, they haven't so far," Blarsen said.
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) June 25, 2025
Kessler could be the perfect complement to Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Due to his ability to play both ends of the floor, he is exactly the type of player that the Lakers need.
While Kessler doesn't space the floor very well, he makes up for it with his defensive abilities. Last season, he averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game.
Landing Kessler would take a lot from the Lakers, but it could likely be worth it. Kessler is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, giving Utah an option to trade him or pay him.
If the Jazz don't believe he is worth a new extension, moving him to a team like the Lakers makes all the sense in the world.
More must-reads:
- Report: Knicks made a signing based on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade belief
- Lakers reportedly monitoring two-time All-Star's availability
- The 'NBA Summer League MVPs' quiz
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Surprising update emerges about Jayson Tatum’s recovery
Jayson Tatum may be giving a glimmer of hope right now to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics star Tatum, who is currently recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, was reportedly moving well while working out at Chris Paul’s CP3 Elite Camp in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week (per Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett). Bulpett adds that the possibility of Tatum rejoining the Celtics late in the 2025-26 regular season has not been ruled out at this point. “He was moving really well,” an unnamed NBA scout was quoted as saying about Tatum. “There might have been a slight limp or something, but the surprising thing to me is that he didn’t have a boot for any of it. I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen guys coming back from Achilles’ tears, and he looked way ahead. I was kind of shocked to see how well he was moving.” You can read Bulpett’s full report about the Tatum situation here. The six-time All-Star Tatum suffered an Achilles rupture during the second round of the playoffs against the New York Knicks in mid-May (video here). That means he is still only about two-and-a-half months removed from the injury and subsequent surgery. Achilles tears generally take about nine to 12 months to recover from, which would put Tatum around mid-February of next year at the absolute earliest. But it is certainly encouraging that he is already working out with a boot, and it should also help that Tatum is still only 27 years old as he embarks on his rehab. Of course, Tatum’s return to the floor will also be influenced by how the Celtics perform next season. Boston parted ways with some prominent players this offseason in an apparent effort to punt on the 2025-26 campaign and create financial flexibility. Thus, they obviously won’t push Tatum to an early return if the season is already a lost cause.
Dolphins' Tyreek Hill stirs up drama, calls for teammate to be benched in certain situations
Tyreek Hill was just trying to be a good teammate, but his Miami Dolphins colleague didn't care for the message. On Friday, Hill gave a meaty performance during his media availability, broaching subjects from his mastery of the offense this year to saying he agreed with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that he needed to be a better leader on the Dolphins for the upcoming season. Then he took a shot at running back De'Von Achane. He suggested the Dolphins keep the 5-foot-9, 191-pound back off the field in third-and-short situations. "Take (Achane) out on 3rd-down," Hills told reporters, via the Dolphins. "That's my honest opinion. If it's third-and-short, he's not a power back. I've been telling him that in the locker room... I love De'Von, but If I'm being honest, that's why you got Jaylen Wright, that's why you got Ollie Gordon." Achane responded to Hill giving his opinion to the media. "That's how you feel," Achane wrote with a laughing emoji. Achane rushed for 907 yards and six touchdowns on 203 carries last season. That's an average of 4.5 yards per rush. The Dolphins' backfield as a whole struggled in the run game last season, averaging a pedestrian 105.6 rushing yards per contest. Achane certainly didn't thrive on third-and-short, but Hill's comments feel unnecessary. Last season, Hill caught 81 passes for 959 yards and six touchdowns — his worst production since 2019, when he missed four games due to injury. Is Hill ready to admit that he's washed? Miami's offense was bad, and it didn't help that Tagovailoa missed time due to a concussion. Defenses took advantage of the Dolphins' limited and discombobulated offense last season. Miami's training-camp news conferences are becoming a concern. Hopefully for the team, Achane won't take the slight from Hill too personally.
Five biggest losers from the 2025 MLB trade deadline
The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline was 6 p.m. ET on Thursday. Some teams managed to get better in either a short-term or long-term outlook. Other teams did not. We've already gone over the five biggest winners, which featured some surprising teams. Here we are focusing on the five teams that were the biggest losers. Minnesota Twins The good news for Twins fans is the team did not trade outfielder Byron Buxton or starting pitcher Joe Ryan. The bad news for Twins fans is the team traded pretty much everybody else. The worst news is the Twins have pretty much sabotaged any goodwill the team had built up in recent years, including their 2023 trip to the American League Division Series. Since then the Twins collapsed late last season, did very little in the offseason and then completely gutted the roster over the past two weeks, including a straight salary-dump trade of Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros, his former team. This is going to be a long, slow climb back to the top. Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates had a chance to have a potentially impactful trade deadline with some intriguing trade chips in what had become a seller's market. They ended up trading closer David Bednar, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, starting pitcher Bailey Falter and relief pitcher Caleb Ferguson. They held on to pending free agents Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham and Andrew Heaney. What's so baffling about the trades they did make is that they gave up useful, productive players with years of team control still remaining, did not get a single highly-ranked prospect back in return and kept the players that are going to leave for nothing. The only winner here is owner Bob Nutting's bank account for all of the money he saved in the future by dumping Hayes' contract and potential arbitration years from Bednar and Falter. Chicago Cubs After paying a steep price to get outfielder Kyle Tucker in the offseason everybody in Chicago knew the clock was ticking on the Cubs to build a winner around him. He is a free agent after this season and seems determined to hit the open market for the highest bidder. Even though the Cubs have emerged as a contender, it was pretty clear as the season has gone on that they needed at least one more starting pitcher. They did not get one, and instead only added a utility infielder (Willi Castro) and reliever Taylor Rogers. While so many teams around them in the NL managed to get better, it's an underwhelming deadline performance for a team that should be going all in. Atlanta Braves It's not that the Braves did anything poor at the trade deadline that makes them losers. It's that they didn't do ... anything. At least not anything that they needed to do. None of their pending free agents were moved, no significant changes were made to a team going nowhere this season and the only move they did make was a marginal trade involving Rafael Montero. That is extremely underwhelming. Boston Red Sox The Red Sox were rumored to be in the market for a significant starting pitcher, including Minnesota's Joe Ryan. They did not make that sort of splash move, and instead added Steven Matz and Dustin May. For a team trying to hang in the American League playoff race, that is not really exciting. They also paid a steep price to get May, giving up one of the top prospects — outfielder James Tibbs III — they acquired in the Rafael Devers trade to the San Francisco Giants.
Richard Childress makes bizarre claim about Austin Hill, Aric Almirola incident
In the aftermath of Austin Hill and Aric Almirola's incident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, team owner Richard Childress has made an odd claim about what led to the crash. Hill was suspended for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after NASCAR ruled that he intentionally wrecked Almirola in retaliation for previous contact. But Childress doesn't see things the same way, instead claiming that Sheldon Creed, who drove for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and 2023, was involved. In an interview on Kenny Wallace's YouTube channel on Thursday, Childress explained what he saw. "I think there was a lot more that once NASCAR, I hope they take a deep dive into it like we have. If you look where the No. 00 (Creed) was, he actually caught the No. 21 car (Hill) and hooked him," Childress said. "It was all so close and happened so fast. ... I think when it went left on him, that's when the No. 00 got into his left-rear quarter panel." Video replay of the incident does not show any contact between the vehicles of Hill and Creed before Hill began to turn left and hit Almirola. Rather, it appears that Hill initially straightened out his No. 21 Chevrolet before deciding to turn left and hook Almirola, wrecking both cars and ultimately leading to his suspension on Tuesday. Hill did hit the right front of Creed's No. 00 Ford, but that contact only occurred after Hill had begun to turn Almirola's No. 19. Dillon will drive the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway on Saturday in place of Hill, who will return at Watkins Glen on Aug. 9.
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