Championship teams are often remembered for their stars, but just as often they are defined by the pieces around them. The Lakers learned that during the Kobe Bryant era, when a reshaped frontcourt helped unlock multiple title runs. Los Angeles now faces a similar roster-building challenge as it looks to maximize Luka Doncic’s prime.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on Thursday, Doncic has made one roster preference unmistakably clear to Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick. “Luka’s first and foremost desire is an A-list center,” a source told ESPN.

The request is hardly new. Throughout his career in Dallas, Doncic produced some of his best basketball alongside vertical lob threats such as Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. Early in Lively’s rookie season, Doncic said, “Obviously, I knew he was going to be great. But the way he’s performed since the first game has been amazing. I didn’t expect this impact.” The partnership helped turn Dallas into one of the league’s most dangerous pick-and-roll teams and offers a blueprint for the type of center Doncic is now seeking in Los Angeles.

Doncic himself confirmed the priority directly in a separate interview at Jordan Brand’s Madrid stop, when asked what qualities his teammates need. “I think mainly shooters and a big man who can run the pick-and-roll and jump so I can pass to him,” he said. “I think I always need shooters around me because I usually get double-teamed a lot. And some centers who can jump high and block shots.”

The Lakers have three tradeable first-round picks – the No. 25 selection this year, plus 2031 and 2033 – and potentially close to $50 million in cap space to deploy. Among the unrestricted free agents McMenamin identified as fits, two now carry NBA championship rings: Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet, both fresh off New York’s title run.

Robinson checks virtually every box on Doncic’s stated wish list. One of the league’s most effective offensive rebounders and rim protectors when healthy, the Knicks center provides the vertical spacing and paint defense Pelinka has publicly prioritized. Shamet addresses the other half of the equation. A career floor-spacer with a quick release and nearly a decade of experience playing alongside high-usage stars, he offers the kind of perimeter shooting Doncic specifically referenced when discussing how teams defend him.

The Restricted Free Agent Risk, and Why Unrestricted Names Make More Sense

The two best true centers on the open market this summer, Jalen Duren of Detroit and Walker Kessler of Utah, are both restricted free agents whose current teams have signaled they intend to keep them. Pursuing either one carries real risk: a restricted free agent’s incumbent team has 48 hours to match any offer sheet, which would tie up the Lakers’ available cap space during that window with no guarantee of a return.

The Lakers’ focus on the position is no secret. Pelinka acknowledged after the season that “one of our primary goals is going to be to add size in the frontcourt at the center position,” adding that the ideal target would be “a vertical threat, lob threat and someone that could protect the interior defensively.” The description mirrors Doncic’s own comments almost word for word.

That dynamic is precisely why the unrestricted list matters more for Los Angeles’ actual planning. Beyond Robinson and Shamet, McMenamin identified Tobias Harris, Norman Powell, Anfernee Simons, Coby White, Quentin Grimes and Dean Wade as potential fits. Harris brings veteran size and scoring versatility, Powell and Simons offer additional perimeter firepower, while Grimes and Wade fit the two-way wing archetype contenders covet. White, meanwhile, would give Los Angeles another shot-creator capable of thriving alongside Doncic.

Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes remain the Lakers’ own free agents they’re prioritizing retaining, given their fit alongside Doncic already established this past season, which narrows what’s left of the cap sheet for outside additions even further.

Doncic has already outlined exactly what he believes the Lakers need around him: shooters to punish double teams and an athletic center capable of finishing above the rim while protecting it on the other end. The blueprint is no mystery. After years of thriving alongside players such as Lively and Gafford, Doncic has effectively described the formula himself. The Lakers now have an entire offseason to determine whether one of their eight reported targets can bring it to life.