The Lakers have spent the last 18 months searching for something Luka Doncic already knows can make his life much easier. In Dallas, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford turned the space above the rim into another weapon for him. This summer, Los Angeles went much further, giving up four pieces of future draft control to find its own answer.

And with Doncic, the job description is unusually specific. He just led the NBA at 33.5 points per game while generating 42.1% of his offense as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. So when Jason Timpf considered what kind of No. 2 actually maximizes the Lakers star, another expensive perimeter creator was not where he landed.

“Luka is an awesome pick-and-roll player himself,” Timpf said on Hoops Tonight. “With that being the case, I imagine a high-level pick-and-roll screening talent as the ideal fit.” Then came the twist: Anthony Davis. “I think between him as a defensive fulcrum and pairing the most dynamic pick-and-roll scoring playmaking talent in the league with what was, when healthy, one of the best roll men in the league – Anthony Davis is the perfect number two for Luka Doncic.”

There is evidence behind the theory. Davis has produced 1.28 points per possession as a roll man while finishing 71.4% of his attempts in the restricted area. At the other end, opponents shot 51.2% at the rim when defended by him. That combination is what separates Davis from a standard lob threat: he can finish the possession Doncic creates on one end and erase mistakes behind him on the other.

Doncic has already shown what he can do with a more specialized version of that archetype. During Dallas’ 2023-24 Finals run, Dereck Lively II shot 74.7% and produced 1.52 points per possession at the rim, while Daniel Gafford shot 72.7%. Doncic’s assists jumped from 8.0 per game in 2022-23 to 9.8 the following season as Dallas surrounded him with those vertical targets.

There is one rather important catch to the irony: the Lakers never actually chose between keeping Davis beside Doncic and moving on from him. Dallas required Davis as the centerpiece of the February 2025 deal that sent Doncic to Los Angeles, and there is no credible evidence the Lakers could have landed Luka while keeping AD. Davis later went from Dallas to Washington, and he isn’t exactly sitting on the trade shelf now. The Wizards have rebuffed trade interest in the 10-time All-Star, who becomes eligible for a four-year extension worth roughly $275 million on Aug. 6.

But Los Angeles has hardly ignored the problem. After Doncic told Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick that he wanted an “A-list center,” the Lakers sent Utah unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 plus swaps in 2028 and 2030 to acquire Walker Kessler on a four-year, $130 million deal. Pelinka made the thinking clear: “Walker Kessler gives us an elite rim-protecting, lob-catching anchor who fits perfectly into our core long-term timeline alongside Luka.”

The numbers explain the investment. Kessler averaged 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while shooting 66.3% from the field, and opponents managed just 49.8% at the rim against him. He also generated 1.34 points per possession as a roll man. For the specific jobs Timpf considers essential next to Doncic – protect the rim, finish above it and screen into the pick-and-roll – Kessler already checks plenty of boxes.

That does not make him Davis 2.0. Kessler offers little of Davis’ self-creation, short-roll playmaking or ability to switch onto perimeter players, while his 0.9 assists per game underline how different their offensive responsibilities remain. What Los Angeles bought was not another Davis. It bought some of the traits that make Davis such an appealing theoretical partner for Doncic.

That makes Timpf’s argument less an indictment of the Lakers than an uncomfortable bit of irony. Los Angeles could not acquire Doncic without surrendering Davis, then eventually committed four major draft assets and $130 million to a center who provides some of the very qualities Timpf values beside Luka. Kessler does not have to become Anthony Davis for that bet to work. He just has to provide enough of what made Davis Timpf’s perfect choice in the first place.