Lakers’ top trade target has officially been traded to a division opponent.
For most of the 2024-25 regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers appeared to be in line to land Jonas Valanciunas. LeBron James had urged the Lakers to bring in Valanciunas during the offseason, and Anthony Davis’ ongoing pleas for help at center seemed to push the Lakers toward that decision.
However, Davis has now been traded, and the Lakers’ primary target on the market has been officially acquired by another team.
Valanciunas, 31, seemed like the perfect fix for the Lakers’ lack of interior depth, partly because he was playing on a favorable contract. The 2024-25 season is the first of a three-year, $30,295,000 deal he signed with the Washington Wizards in July.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers missed out on trading for the effective big man as their division rival, the Sacramento Kings, swooped in.
It’s unclear if the Lakers still saw Valanciunas as a top target after trading Davis for Luka Doncic, but the asking price was reasonable and well within their means.
Lakers miss out on Jonas Valanciunas as Sacramento Kings steal their center
Valanciunas has played in all 49 of the Wizards’ games in the 2024-25 season. Over this span, he’s averaged 11.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.4 offensive boards, and 2.2 assists in just 20.0 minutes per game while shooting 54.7% from the field.
These stats translate to impressive per-36-minute averages of 20.7 points, 14.8 rebounds, 4.4 offensive boards, and 4.0 assists.
Among players with at least 30 appearances, Valanciunas ranks second in the NBA for defensive rebounding percentage. In comparison, the Lakers sit at 22nd in the league for second-chance points allowed per game.
Even if one disregards his elite post-scoring, offensive rebounding, and playmaking skills, his defensive rebounding would have been a valuable addition for Los Angeles.
Instead, Valanciunas will join the Sacramento Kings, a division rival that stands to benefit greatly from his presence. At the time of the trade, the Kings were 25-24, sitting eighth in the Western Conference and just 2.5 games away from avoiding the Play-In Tournament.
With new additions like Zach LaVine and Valanciunas, interim head coach Doug Christie will aim to continue transforming one of the NBA’s hottest teams.
Sacramento is 12-5 in its last 17 games, quickly closing the gap to a postseason spot. While questions remain about the sustainability of their success following the trade of franchise player De’Aaron Fox, the Kings are actively improving their roster in other ways.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, this move has come at their expense, as they once seemed destined to acquire Valanciunas.