Lakers lock in 2 centers! James' son revealed that he wants James to play at least one more season

The offseason has been a long one, and today there was some news about the Lakers' signings. According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon on a podcast, Mavericks center Gafford could be a potential target for the Lakers, who are desperately looking for a starting center.

The journalist said: "Let me throw you a hypothetical question. This is purely speculative, and I try to analyze the possible operations from the perspective of a general manager. The Mavericks have quietly tested Gafford's trade value before this year's trade deadline, and it's entirely logical if they continue to do so this summer. ”

"The Mavericks will face tough decisions about salary space, and it will be difficult to keep Anthony Davis, Gafford and Lively at the same time. Lively is one year away from an early contract extension, and Gafford will enter the final year of his contract, he signed a three-year contract of $40.18 million, and the salary for the 2025-26 season is $14.39 million, and he has every reason to ask for a salary that meets the value of the starting center, and the team cannot give Gafford a starting center-level contract when the thick eyebrows get the maximum salary and Lively is about to sign a big contract. ”

Doncic has a particularly good relationship with Gafford in the regular season, the Lakers played against the Mavericks in a regular season game, and Doncic said to Gafford after the game that we will play together again.

Of course, Gafford is Doncic's national team teammate, which can be understood as playing for the same NBA team, or we can understand that the two will reunite with the Slovenian national team. All in all, it's quite intriguing.

Gafford is the 8th pick in the second round in 2019, 2.08 meters tall, weighs 105 kilograms, is only 26 years old this year, and averaged 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.8 blocks in 21.5 minutes per game this season, shooting 70.2% from the field.

In addition, another Sports Illustrated reporter, Ricardo Sandoval, said: "The Lakers are expected to restart trade talks with the Nets for Claxton in the offseason. Bolstering the center is a key need for the Lakers, and the Lakers are likely to try again after the mid-season inquiry. ”

Claxton is 26 years old, has three years left on his contract, which is decreasing year by year, and his salary for next season is $26.14 million. Tall 2.11 meters tall and weighing 97 kilograms, he averaged 10.3 rebounds, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.4 blocks in 26.9 minutes per game with the Nets this season, shooting 56.3% from the field. Free throws are not very good, only about 5 percent.

Just do the comparison between Gafford and Claxton, and it can be clearly felt that Gafford is still quite cost-effective. The price is cheap, the data has a little advantage, and there is a tacit understanding with Doncic, so it doesn't take much time to integrate.

James's decision in the offseason can affect the Lakers' recruitment plan, if James chooses to stay with the team and hit the championship again, then the Lakers don't hide it, go all out to stud, after all, Lao Zhan's last career will definitely not exceed 2 years.

Former NBA player Caron Butler talked about James in the past two days, saying: "With the way he plays now, LeBron can definitely play at a high level for another two or three years, I don't know how bad his knee injury is. He didn't have that injury before, he was able to take care of his body and his mental state was always ahead of the rest. ”

Bronny also recently spoke to Fox Sports, expressing his desire for dad James to play at least one more season: "Of course, no matter how long he can play, it's always nice to be there for him. He's always focused on his experience and I want to learn from his experience, both in terms of his health and pre-match preparation. ”

James playing for another year is a 99% probability event, playing for another two years is a 50% probability, and playing for another three years I think is a 25% probability.