Warriors NBA Champion Emerges as Potential Lakers Target

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Josh Valdez | Last updated Jun 11, 2025 3:23 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers improved their backcourt for the foreseeable future when they acquired five-time first-team All-NBA honoree Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks for star big man Anthony Davis in February. However, the deal compromised the frontcourt, which they learned the hard way in the playoffs.

Starting center Jaxson Hayes got played off the floor in their first-round series vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves, as he logged just four minutes in Game 4 and didn't appear in Game 5. The seven-footer tallied just seven points against eight fouls in the series, which Los Angeles lost in five games.

Hayes' struggles forced the Lakers to start the 6-foot-7-inch Dorian Finney-Smith at center, which helped Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert record 27 points (12-15 FG) with 24 rebounds in Game 5. The 32-year-old only scored in double digits two other times across Minnesota's Western Conference Finals run.

Los Angeles is looking to upgrade the position through the free agent and/or trade markets, and a three-time NBA champion is among its targets, via ClutchPoints' Anthony Irwin.

"The Lakers could also target Kevon Looney using their taxpayer mid-level exception, but if he was going to accept that contract, he'd likely get it from the Golden State Warriors, sources say," he reported. "Al Horford had a really good season given his age, and the Boston Celtics are going to be looking to shed salary, so he could also be an option if the Lakers want to double the number of 40+ year-olds on the roster."

Irwin also mentioned Clint Capela and Steven Adams as free agent options.

Everybody knows the Lakers need a center (or two).@AnthonyIrwinLA goes inside the front office's strategy to upgrade the position and predicts the likeliest outcome ⬇️https://t.co/B6TBQmZTFb
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 11, 2025

Looney has spent each season with the Warriors since debuting in 2015-16. The 6-foot-9-inch, 222-pounder averaged 4.5 points on 51.4 percent shooting with 6.1 rebounds across 15 minutes this season.

Looney's three-year, $22.5 million deal with Golden State expired this summer.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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