The Los Angeles Lakers are going into the season with basically the same team after not making any moves in free agency. To sum it up, Taurean Prince left for the Milwaukee Bucks, and they drafted Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. The Lakers did attempt to trade for players and LeBron James apparently had a list of players sign free agency he wanted them to target.

One of the players that LeBron and the Lakers wanted was Jonas Valanciunas, but he ended up signing with the Washington Wizards on a three-year deal. That left the Lakers with nothing to show for free agency, but that doesn’t mean they won’t circle the block on Valanciunas, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.

“There was some interest obviously. He was on LeBron’s list, so I think the Lakers will probably revisit that,” Buha said on his YouTube channel.

If the Lakers can pull off a trade for Valanciunas at the deadline and they’re in a position where they can make a postseason run, there’s no reason not to try and trade for him. The only way it might not work is if the Wizards are also in playoff contention and Valanciunas was a big contributor to that.

How can Jonas Valanciunas help Lakers, LeBron James?

Since the Los Angeles Lakers won the championship in 2020, they’ve been trying to find a center that they can fit alongside Anthony Davis. When Davis is at power forward he plays some of his best basketball, and it opens the floor for him to roam around on defense and cause havoc.

Adding Jonas Valanciunas can allow Davis to do what he does best, while also adding someone who can space the floor like him as well. In five of the last six seasons, Valanciunas has averaged a double-double, which means that Davis won’t have to bang in the paint for rebounds as well. Last season, Valanciunas shot 30% from three, but the Lakers probably won’t ask him to come out on the perimeter as much if Davis is there.

For LeBron James, Valanciunas can be someone that he can run pick and roll with and he can either roll to the rim or pop out to the perimeter. The reason why James’ and Davis’ pick and roll was so effective is because of the kind of versatility that Davis provides.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Lakers can actually pull off the trade, and there’s a good chance that it could happen, with the Washington Wizards not expected to win many games. The Valanciunas signing felt like a move to help Alex Sarr develop, but he’s a veteran who’s going to want the ball as well. At some point, the Wizards are going to want to play their young players and see what they can bring to the team.