Per Marc Stein on his Stein Line Substack, “the Lakers are not expected to join the hunt for either Vučević or Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl … while oft-suggested Lakers target Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz is believed to be as close to unavailable as it gets.”

Stein also noted there’s been little momentum on Los Angeles adding Wizards big man Jonas Valančiūnas.

Anthony Davis has spent years making it clear he prefers to play power forward, and he reiterated that stance in an interview with ESPN’s Shams Charania last week.

The Lakers are going to make an addition at the deadline, and it stands to reason they’ll aim to appease their best player in doing so.

As the deadline nears and sellers realize they’re not going to get first-round assets for any of their available veteran bigs, prices should dip to a level the Lakers can handle. It’s true, as Stein reports, that Los Angeles needs to be wary of taking on significant salary for 2025-26, which would be necessary to onboard Vučević or Poeltl. But if all it costs is seconds and expiring salary, one would imagine a deal could materialize.

One potential target who seems rightly off the market—at least at the current rates—is Kessler. The Utah Jazz should have no interest in dealing one of the best young rim-protectors in the game. In fact, you could make the case that he—not Keyonte George, Cody Williams nor any other recent Jazz draftees—is still the top prospect in the system. That matters in a rebuild, and Utah shouldn’t listen to offers that fail to include at least one unprotected first-rounder.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.