The Lakers spent Monday putting one piece of their center puzzle in place, then set up for a much bigger swing as free agency opens.
Deandre Ayton picked up his $8.1 million player option for next season, giving Los Angeles a stopgap in the middle while the front office keeps hunting for a more impactful fit for Luka Doncic. The real action begins Tuesday, when teams can start negotiating at 6 p.m. ET.
One of the names on the Lakers’ radar is Jalen Duren, and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported Monday night that Los Angeles has a planned call with the Detroit Pistons restricted free agent on Tuesday. That matches earlier reporting from Sam Amick of The Athletic, though the path to actually landing Duren looks steep. Detroit, as of now, has shown no interest in the sign-and-trade needed to pry him away.
Duren is the dreamier target, but also the harder one to land. Amick reported that Duren was “underwhelmed” by Detroit’s initial offer and is prepared to explore sign-and-trade scenarios now that the window is open. At 22, he brings the kind of vertical pop that would fit cleanly with Doncic’s passing: a lob finisher, a rebounder, and the sort of center who can turn pick-and-roll reads into easy points.
The numbers explain why he’s in demand. Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while helping Detroit win 60 games and secure the East’s top seed.
That production earned him All-NBA Third Team honors and made him eligible for a deal worth as much as $287.1 million over five years. But the price conversation isn’t happening in a vacuum.
His postseason dipped - 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game - and he was benched for overtime in a Game 5 loss to Cleveland, which helps explain the gap between the two sides.
The bigger issue for the Lakers is control, or lack of it. Duren is a restricted free agent, so Detroit can match any offer sheet he signs.
Amick noted the Pistons likely would. That leaves a sign-and-trade as the only realistic route, and that requires Detroit to want to move him and like the return.
McMenamin’s reporting that the Pistons are not interested in that path makes the planned call feel more like due diligence than a deal in motion.
If Duren is the long shot, Mitchell Robinson is the cleaner play.
Robinson is an unrestricted free agent, which means the Lakers don’t have to navigate another team holding his rights. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that Los Angeles is “regarded as a likely suitor” for Robinson once free agency begins, with growing pessimism that the Knicks can keep him. Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reported that it is unlikely Robinson returns to New York, saying owner James Dolan is unwilling to pay into the luxury tax’s second apron to keep a bench rotation together.
On the court, the appeal is obvious. Robinson is a strong offensive rebounder and rim protector, and his scoring comes almost entirely on rolls and put-backs.
He averaged 5.7 points per game in 60 appearances last season and shot 72.3 percent from the field. The concerns are just as clear: he hasn’t held a full-time starting job since 2022-23, durability has been an issue, and late in games he can be targeted at the free-throw line.
Even so, he fits the Lakers’ need as a defensive anchor alongside Doncic and Austin Reaves, especially after Oklahoma City exposed that weakness in a sweep of Los Angeles in the second round.
Ayton’s decision matters because it keeps salary on the books and preserves a tradable contract, but it also leaves the Lakers operating as an over-the-cap team. Their cleanest way to sign Robinson outright is the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, worth roughly $15 million per year, and that only works if they stay under the first apron. If they cross that line, that tool shrinks or disappears.
That’s why the Lakers’ cap management this week matters just as much as the player hunt itself. They already committed major money by re-signing Austin Reaves to a max, and how the LeBron James situation plays out will shape what else they can spend. Going big at center now could complicate the rest of the plan.
The timing is tight, too. Teams can begin negotiating Tuesday at 6 p.m.
ET, but nothing becomes official until the moratorium lifts on July 6. That leaves a stretch of verbal agreements and jockeying before any deal is signed.
So the Lakers are working two tracks at once: a flashy, difficult pursuit in Duren and a more realistic one in Robinson. Ayton gives them insurance, not the answer. The next few days will show whether they can turn that promise into a real upgrade - or whether the center search rolls on into another season.
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