The Los Angeles Lakers have looked to be true title contenders in a loaded Western Conference this season after their stunning acquisition of generational ex-Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić prior to the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Dončić, future Hall of Fame inductee LeBron James and rising star Austin Reaves have done their part to elevate the team to position as the No. 4 seed in the West with a current 45-29 record, but their lacking bench production and pronounced absence of center depth could cause their ultimate unraveling in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
To remedy one of these issues, it’s possible that the Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka could scour this summer’s free agent market to bring aboard a more consistent bench scoring option than Gabe Vincent or rookie forward Dalton Knecht.
In fact, he could offer a contract to an experienced player that profiles as a suitable candidate to lead Los Angeles’ reserves in the scoring department in the form of Atlanta Hawks guard and soon-to-be unrestricted free agent, Caris LeVert.
Though recent reports have indicated that LeVert may prefer to stick around in Atlanta come summertime, the prospect of teaming up with the Lakers’ legendary two-headed monster while competing for a championship could help to pry the cerebral offensive talent away.
At 30 years old, LeVert has authored the most efficient season of his 9-year NBA tenure in 2024-25 by contributing 11.7 points and 3.4 assists on a career-best 55.8% effective field goal percentage while splitting time between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Hawks.
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The skilled guard had been deployed as a fantastic offensive option off of the bench for an excellent Cavaliers team, but he was surprisingly dealt to the Hawks at the trade deadline in exchange for forward De’Andre Hunter.
After receiving a taste of playing within a dominant winning culture, LeVert could view signing with a team like the Lakers as a chance to reestablish himself as a valued role player for a winning organization.
Unfortunately, it’s more likely that he’ll be expecting a payday after his successful individual campaign which could see him receive a slight raise from his current $16 million salary, a price point that Los Angeles may not be willing to meet in order to land the solid shot-maker.
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