According to NBA insider Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Los Angeles Lakers have had trade talks with the Houston Rockets about Steven Adams.

The Lakers need a center after trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic.

“League sources say the Lakers have had talks with Houston about 31-year-old big man Steven Adams (who is on an expiring deal worth $12.6 million),” Amick wrote. “And while the two sides have been significantly apart, with no signs that a deal will actually get done, those talks offers some clarity as to what Pelinka has been thinking here.

“League sources say the Lakers have been attempting to use the contracts of Gabe Vincent ($11 million this season, $11.5 million next) and Maxi Kleber ($11 million this season; $11 million next season) in this pursuit. One significant hurdle, however, is that Kleber (who came to the Lakers in the Dončić deal) can only be traded in a one-for-one deal rather than being aggregated. Conceivably, that takes options like Atlanta big man Clint Capela (who is on an expiring deal worth $22.2 million) off the board.”

Adams is averaging 3.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists this season while shooting 58.1% from the field. He’s arguably the strongest player in the NBA.

“We know we have a need for a big,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said at Doncic’s introductory press conference. “The market for bigs right now, leading into the last two or three days of the trade deadline, is very dry. There’s just not a lot available. So maybe we’ll be able to do some stuff around the margins.

“I would say, in terms of a big move for that position, it’s probably more realistic that that would be something that comes in the offseason. But Luka will be at the center of that, as we build for the long term.”

Along with Adams, the Lakers have been linked to Nic Claxton, Robert Williams III and Jakob Poeltl.

This article first appeared on Hoops Wire and was syndicated with permission.

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