Report: Lakers Will ‘Probably’ Try To Acquire Jonas Valanciunas From Wizards

According to NBA reporter Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Los Angeles Lakers will “probably” try to acquire Jonas Valanciunas from the Washington Wizards. 

Valanciunas signed a three-year, $30.3 million contract with the Wizards this offseason as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. 

The Lakers were interested in signing Valanciunas. Superstar LeBron James was open to taking less money on his new deal for LA to add the center. 

“There was some interest obviously,” Buha said on his podcast. “He was on LeBron’s list, so I think the Lakers will probably revisit that.”

Valanciunas averaged 12.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.8 blocks in 2023-24 for the Pelicans while shooting 55.9% from the field, 30.8% from beyond the arc and 78.5% from the free-throw line. He had 33 double-doubles. 

The 32-year-old Valanciunas has career averages of 13.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.4 blocks and 1.0 blocks with the Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies and Pelicans. 

According to NBA insider Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, many people around the NBA believe Valanciunas was signed by the Wizards “just to be traded.”

“It is a really smart deal for (Valanciunas) because it got him paid at a time when there were just not that many spots available—it’s musical chairs and if you do not get one of the first slots now with the new rules, you’re screwed,” one NBA exec said. “There’s not as much flexibility. But this gets you paid, and the team paying you can say, ‘Hey, we’ll get you to a contender when the time comes.’ You see it in baseball all the time, a guy who signs with a bad team just to be traded later, and you’re going to see more of it in our game.”

The Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 playoffs in five games.

Denver also beat Los Angeles in the 2023 Western Conference Finals in four games. 

The Lakers fired Darvin Ham as head coach and hired former NBA guard JJ Redick, who was podcast partners with LeBron.