The Los Angeles Lakers had reportedly set their sights on trying to pry Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason, as they seek an upgrade over Deandre Ayton at the center position.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, Hartenstein — who has a $28.5M team option in the 2026-27 season — is expected to remain with the Thunder. According to ESPN’s Anthony Slater and Tim MacMahon, the Thunder prefer to retain Hartenstein, as they feel the German-American big man matched up well with Victor Wembanyama during the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
Lakers Trade Target: Hartenstein
“There is a strong anticipation among team and league sources that Hartenstein will be back in Oklahoma City next season, whether the Thunder choose to pick up his team option or the sides agree to an extension,” wrote the ESPN insiders.
“With Wembanyama and the Spurs looming as a long-term rival, it would be a significant step in the wrong direction for the Thunder to thin out their big man depth, especially after Hartenstein had some success defending Wembanyama during the West finals.”
Hartenstein definitely did a good job guarding Wembanyama during the Thunder vs Spurs series that concluded last week. Through seven games, he held Wemby to 23-of-43 shooting and roughed up the Frenchman at various points in the series. Ultimately, the Spurs prevailed, but Hartenstein was praised for his defense on Wemby.
Lakers Offseason Plans
Besides Isaiah Hartenstein, the Lakers are expected to pursue other bigs like Jarrett Allen, Walker Kessler, Daniel Gafford, Robert Williams III and Mitchell Robinson, as they strive to improve their rim protection around Luka Doncic.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Williams — an unrestricted free agent — may be the best option, given his projected market value and potential fit with Doncic.
“That would be the guy,” Marks said of the Lakers pairing Doncic with Williams.
“He’s probably one of the top unrestricted free agent centers out there. I think he gives you that shot blocker, that rim protector, that guy that can lob threat for Luka Doncic.”
Williams isn’t expected to command more than $12-$15M per year due to his injury history — he missed 161 out of a possible 246 games over the last three years. This past season, though, he was relatively healthy and played in 59 games for the Trail Blazers.
“Now the question is, the cost? What’s the cost? Is it $12, $13 million? I think that’s kind of where his range is, but there’ll be other teams that also see that,” Marks said.
Marks revealed that Williams was highly coveted around the league after he held his own against Wembanyama in the first round of the playoffs.
“The one name that picked up the most buzz, a lot of teams in Chicago last week, was Robert Williams,” Marks said.
“That’s the name. You have to be cautious with that because of his games availability, the minutes. That’s the one guy, I don’t want to say neutralized Victor Wembanyama, but I think guarded him probably one of the best certainly in the playoffs in the first round.”
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