Nick Claxton has emerged as a serious option for the Lakers, and his numbers and experience over the years make a great claim for him.
The Los Angeles Lakers are focusing on revamping their roster ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season. A short experiment of playing Luka Doncic and Lebron James together proved to be somewhat successful.
But their early playoff exits proved that they needed to make some major changes. The team is already discussing, with the Lakers front office splitting the center where players trade.
Their obvious weakness lies centrally. For years, the Lakers had no team outing centers. Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan are the surnames that come to mind.
Paul Pierce suggested that the Lakers pursue superstar center Joel Embiid. But another centre in the Eastern Conference might be the right choice.
The Lakers are linked to Nicholas Claxton this offseason. Affordable center options are needed, at $24 million per season, Claxton fits the bill very well.
Needless to say, the Brooklyn Net that Claxton plays today has been rebuilt, and is about to move some key names to gain more assets.
The recent history of the Lakers, which has done net and business through the Dorian Finney Smith trade, only increases the chances of landing talented centers.
Read more: Re-signing an impressive La Lakers teammate could be key to keeping Luka Doncic
But that goes beyond this. Claxton spent a down year this year, averaging 10.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.
In contrast to these numbers, between October 2022 and April 2024, the young Nets center averaged 2+ blocks per game over two seasons.
One of the Lakers’ key weaknesses this past season, especially after Anthony Davis’s deal, was the lack of paint protection as he allowed 49.4 points in paint per game and ranked 18th in the NBA.
Read more: ESPN experts tell La Lakers to target the New York Knicks star.
Perhaps more important to the Lakers than anything else, Nicholas Claxton was a teammate with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, so he has experience playing with All-Stars.
During the 2022-23 NBA season, before both stars were traded, Claxton really rose to the ceiling, a reliable third option with an average of 13.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.
This was the highest point average of Claxton’s career (playing games over 50) and he was even a candidate for the defensive player of the year before each trade.
Since Irving and Durant left, Claxton shows he is defensively reliable, but has yet to reach the same peak.
Given the Lakers have another All-Star, Luka Donsic, who will nurture the center’s ceiling, they can expect Claxton to make a big leap for them if they move.
Rob Perinka is a move that requires him to give up potential assets from Dalton Necht as his numbers fell after Donsic’s deal. But Claxton is worth the price if things go well.