5 Los Angeles Lakers Trade Targets to Complement Luka Dončić, LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers just pulled off what may have been the best most surprising trade of all time when they landed Luka Dončić, in part because they only had to attach one first-round pick in the deal.

They still have control of their own first-rounders in 2026, 2028, 2030 and 2031, meaning they can offer swaps of any of those first three and an outright trade of the pick in 2031.

L.A. can make another deal ahead of Thursday's trade deadline, and they still have a fairly decent combination of contracts and assets to do so.

The salaries of Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt add up to almost $39 million. With Luka now on the roster, it'd probably easier to justify giving up Austin Reaves in the right deal, too.

Below, you'll find some interesting targets the Lakers could chase with some or all of the above.

Even before the Luka deal, Nic Claxton had been listed as a potential target of the Lakers. And going after him makes even more sense now.

The trade left L.A. without a starting-caliber center, and Claxton's $27.6 million salary is pretty easy to match. Hachimura and one of Vincent or Vanderbilt makes the money work.

And the Brooklyn Nets, who should be aggressively chasing losses and ping-pong balls in the lottery, should be interested in unloading Claxton for manageable salaries and a first-rounder (even if that first-rounder is just a swap).

Given his current salary, declining contract (he makes $20.9 million in 2027-28, the last year of the deal) and age (he turns 26 in April), Claxton might even be L.A.'s No. 1 target right now.

On the court, he provides some rim protection and a dynamic rim-runner to play pick-and-roll with either Luka or LeBron.

The Utah Jazz just did the Lakers a pretty big favor by being the third team in the Luka deal and helping to facilitate L.A.'s coup. So, why wouldn't they help them again?

Collins' $26.6 million salary is just shy of what Claxton is making this season, so the math is easy for him, too. At 27, he's also in or right around his prime.

And while he's probably not quite as versatile a defender as Claxton, Collins brings the added wrinkle of outside shooting with him.

This season, he's averaging 18.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 threes in 29.8 minutes, while shooting 46.4 percent from deep.

He can operate as a roll man to pull defenders away from the perimeter or pop out after ball screens to keep driving lanes open for the superstars.

Collins isn't a true center, but he's played plenty of 5 in Utah, and he offers more offensive upside than Claxton.

Marcus Smart obviously doesn't address L.A.'s need for a center, and he's missed most of this season with a finger injury on his shooting hand.

But the Lakers wouldn't be acquiring him for his shooting. With Luka and LeBron starting together, they'll need a little boost in perimeter defense, and Smart can bring exactly that.

He's also long been a solid playmaker and distributor. And while L.A. suddenly has an embarrassment of riches on that front, someone to give both of the stars a handful more opportunities to attack closeouts or take catch-and-shoot threes wouldn't hurt.

He also might be gettable without having to give up Hachimura, thanks to his $20.2 million salary. Vincent, Vanderbilt and a future pick swap should be enough to tempt Memphis (though at that point, the Lakers might balk at the price).

With the Atlanta Hawks in a tailspin down the standings and Onyeka Okongwu seemingly ready to become a full-time starter, the Lakers could take a run at Clint Capela.

He's making $22.3 million this season, a number L.A. can easily get to. And while the 30-year-old big man isn't as explosive as he once was, he's still averaging close to a double-double (9.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks, to be precise) in just 22.4 minutes.

He'd be a clear upgrade over Vanderbilt, Maxi Kleber, Jaxson Hayes or Christian Koloko at the starting 5 spot. And playing alongside Luka and LeBron would mean plenty of spoon-fed open looks at the rim.

Another veteran center, Nikola Vučević is in the right salary range (at $20 million this season and $21.5 in 2025-26) and playing the right position to be among L.A.'s potential targets.

The problem, of course, is that he doesn't really address the team's newly formed defensive concerns. In fact, going from AD at the 5 to lineups with LeBron, Luka and Vuč would make for a massive downgrade on that end.

But maybe L.A. should just lean into the offense, at this point. Having two of the best creators in the league, both of whom are prone to lapses on the other end, kind of forces you to be an offense-first team.

And giving LeBron and Luka a floor-spacing 5 who's shooting 39.4 percent from deep and averaging 3.4 assists of his own would be terrifying for opposing defenses.

Now that the Lakers don't have to do any more star-hunting, there's actually a ton of seemingly gettable role players who could push them even closer to title contention as early as this postseason.

Cameron Johnson (who makes $22.5 million and will likely cost more than L.A. can pay in a trade), Jakob Poeltl ($19.5 million), Mitchell Robinson ($14.3 million), Kelly Olynyk ($12.8 million), Robert Williams ($12.4 million), Larry Nance Jr. ($11.2 million) and Jonas Valančiūnas ($9.9 million) are all worth looks.

By giving them one of the 3-5 best players in the world for way below his market value, the Mavericks have set the Lakers up to make one of the better on-the-fringes moves in the league this trade deadline week.