The choice of an A-list center from Luka Doncic has been heard by all teams. But there is more to his requests, and the Los Angeles Lakers front office is working overtime to fulfil that demand. The need for a 3-and-D wing remains, and that search has linked the Purple and Gold franchise with former NBA Champion Lu Dort.

The Lakers are a potential landing spot for Lu Dort, per Michael Scotto.

“With Williams expected to return healthy next season, Mitchell, Cason Wallace, Jared McCain, and Alex Caruso in the fold, teams across the league are monitoring fellow starter Lu Dort’s availability.” Scotto wrote for HoopsHype.

“Dort has a team option for $17.22 million for the upcoming season that several front executives who spoke with HoopsHype are projecting the Thunder to exercise, then consider flipping Dort on the trade market. Should such a scenario happen, Dort has been linked with the Lakers and several other teams.”

With the Oklahoma City Thunder facing a roster logjam, the Lakers are monitoring All-Defensive-caliber star Dort to fix their perimeter defense. The Thunder are projected to exercise Dort’s $17.22 million team option with the explicit intent of flipping him onto the trade market.

While Dort had a statistically down year offensively (averaging 8.3 points on 38.5% shooting), his elite on-ball defense is viewed as the ultimate compliment to hide the defensive limitations of a Luka Doncic-Austin Reaves backcourt.

Pairing him with former DPOY, Marcus Smart, would give the Lakers a fearsome backcourt defense. With massive extensions for Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren set to kick in, Oklahoma City is projected to be $28.5 million over the second apron. The Thunder’s ideal circumstances remain picking up that option and dumping that contract to someone else for draft pick capital.

Dort spoke about his future, expressed gratitude to Sam Presti and the Thunder, and said he intended to stay. But cap space and apron demand sacrifices that championship teams have to make. And the interest in the Thunder star is not recent. In fact, one Western Conference executive previously admitted that Dort would be an ideal target for the Lakers.

“I think if you’re the Lakers, you want to be front and center on some of those guys. Lu Dort is the guy who could just come in and change your entire perimeter defense,” the executive told Sean Deveney.

“He’s a must-have if they can get him. That’s been a problem for them for so long. But if you have Luka Doncic, you need 3-and-D guys, and he’s on another level.”

This matches the request that Luka Doncic made recently.

“I think mainly shooters and a big man who can run the pick-and-roll and jump so I can pass to him,” Doncic told the interviewers. “If I have shooters, they won’t double me as much, and it helps me out. I think I always need shooters around me because I usually get double-teamed a lot, so I think I need shooters. And some centers who can jump high and block shots.”

Ahead of his second full season, the demand from the Slovenian is clear. Instead of selecting a rookie late in the first round of the draft, the Lakers need to evaluate avenues to acquire a more proven contributor by shopping the No. 25 overall pick. Plus, they have first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 to offer.

Lakers are looking at a reunion for Luka Doncic

“Daniel Gafford could be a trade target for the Lakers with a package centered around the No. 25 overall pick in the draft,” Jake Weinbach reported on X. “The Lakers are reportedly exploring the market for a center, while Gafford has experience playing alongside Luke Doncic from their time together in Dallas.”

It’s worth pausing on what No. 25 actually represents before treating it as a throwaway chip. It’s not just a pick for the Lakers- it’s their only pick. The Lakers have just one selection in the 2026 NBA Draft, the No. 25 overall pick, having previously traded away their second-rounder.

That changes the calculus considerably. Centering a trade around it doesn’t cost the Lakers a marginal asset- it means walking away from the entire 2026 draft with nothing to show for it.

The irony is that the pick and the trade target are aimed at solving the exact same problem. Multiple mock drafts have the Lakers pointed toward the frontcourt at No. 25, with names like Chris Cenac Jr., Malachi Moreno and Henri Veesaar showing up in that range.

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie and ESPN’s Jeremy Woo have both projected North Carolina’s Henri Veesaar to the Lakers at 25 in recent mocks.

So the report isn’t just about acquiring Gafford- it’s a referendum on how the front office wants to fill the center spot: draft-and-develop, or trade-for-a-known-quantity.

Those two paths can’t both happen with the same asset.

And the rookie options come with real questions attached. Veesaar offers real scoring touch and mobility at seven feet, but scouts note he isn’t a true rim-protector, which is the exact box Gafford checks and a rookie wouldn’t.

Cenac, meanwhile, measured a 7-foot-4 wingspan and a 37-inch vertical at the combine but only averaged 0.5 blocks and 9.5 points a game in his lone college season- high tools, low production, the kind of swing that takes a year or two to pay off, if it pays off at all.

Gafford offers none of that uncertainty. He’s a finished product at a position where the Lakers don’t have time to wait on one to develop, not with Doncic in his prime and LeBron’s runway shrinking by the year.

The free agency market for an A-list center is small, with Walker Kessler and Jalen Duren being the top names. But both are restricted free agents, which means their respective teams can match any offer to extend their contracts.

That’s why Daniel Gafford’s name could be the next best fit around Luka Doncic. The duo gained prominence during their time together in Dallas, especially Gafford, who became one of the NBA’s most efficient finishers.

Defensively, he provides legitimate rim protection and has averaged at least 1.8 blocks per game in four consecutive seasons. At 6’10” and 265 pounds, he brings the physicality that the Lakers lacked throughout much of last season.

Gafford’s age (27), playoff experience, and proven chemistry with Doncic make him one of the most realistic targets available.