Ayton was supposed to solve the Lakers’ long-running center dilemma. Instead, his struggles during the Oklahoma City sweep only amplified the questions surrounding Los Angeles heading into a pivotal offseason. With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves expected to remain the franchise’s foundation, the Lakers are now facing a tougher reality: they may need meaningful roster upgrades without the luxury of a dramatic rebuild.

That tension is already shaping the organization’s offseason approach. While rival teams prepare for aggressive moves across the Western Conference, reports suggest the Lakers are leaning toward continuity rather than sweeping changes. According to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, Los Angeles is expected to prioritize calculated additions over another franchise-altering shake-up – a strategy that could place even more pressure on Ayton to rediscover his form.

“Increasingly, it looks like the massive changes fans want for the Lakers aren’t quite what the team has in mind,” Deveney wrote. “The plan appears to be to keep Austin Reaves, at something less than the maximum $240 million-plus, and to seek solutions at the center spot, an annual tradition in LA. Beyond that, dreams of adding restricted free agents Walker Kessler or Peyton Watson or Jalen Duren are almost certainly not happening.”

The center position has been a revolving door in Los Angeles for years, and Deveney’s reporting suggested that 2026 will produce another iteration of the same search rather than a structural fix.

The one name that could disrupt that quiet offseason narrative is Hartenstein. And the window to pursue him depends entirely on a decision Oklahoma City has not yet made, as ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel reported this week that the Thunder are expected to decline Hartenstein’s $28.5 million team option for 2026-27. However, he projected that the center will ultimately re-sign with OKC at a reduced figure.

“I expect them to decline that, but I also expect him to stay with the team,” Siegel said. “He got paid and he’s gonna have to take less money now for him to stay with this team. Hartenstein loves being in Oklahoma City.”

The catch is the gap between declining the option and signing a new deal. In this window, Hartenstein would technically be a free agent, and the Lakers’ front office would be first in line if the relationship with OKC soured or the numbers didn’t align.

The Thunder stayed at 12th in the Draft Lottery, rather than moving into the top four, and that sharpened the Hartenstein-to-Lakers scenario. With the Thunder now able to draft a center of the future in that range, the financial logic of paying Hartenstein $28.5 million has grown weaker. His replacement could be arriving via the draft, which has made his departure more feasible than it looked a month ago.

Furthermore, his value to the Lakers is self-evident: he is a rugged rebounder, a soft floater, a legitimate rim protector, and an ideal pick-and-roll partner for Luka Doncic, who turns 28 in May and plays with the kind of motor that role players are built for. Los Angeles entered the offseason with $40 million in cap space after accounting for holds. This has been a strategy that has bubbled up throughout the summer, in which they’ve targeted restricted free agents with offers other teams wouldn’t want to match.

However, that plan appears to be fizzling out. One Western Conference executive put it this way: the Lakers figure to be “shut out” on restricted free agents, meaning some of the fan-favorite targets would be off the board entirely.

If LeBron James retires, another situation yet to be figured out, that would free up additional money for a sign-and-trade to open a door to add someone like Jarrett Allen. Still, if James returns, the Lakers won’t look drastically different.

Ayton shot just 39.3% in the Thunder series after connecting at 67.1% during the regular season, and was just 3-of-11 in the restricted area during the first two games.

Head coach JJ Redick pulled Ayton from Game 3 against OKC after a sequence where the Thunder collected three offensive rebounds within 19 seconds, ending with a foul. It was a frustrating repeat of the year prior, when Redick eventually opted to play without a center entirely in a first-round loss to Minnesota.

The Restraint That Has Lakers Fans Frustrated

The tension in Deveney’s reporting is that it described a front office that displayed institutional caution at a moment when the fanbase demanded ambition. Deandre Ayton has been the incumbent center all season and failed to seize the role. He produced inconsistency throughout the season and did close to nothing in the second-round sweep against the Thunder to make the case for his continued presence as a starter.

Pistons star Jalen Duren and Cleveland center Jarrett Allen, who are the two names that have generated genuine excitement among Lakers supporters, are almost certainly staying put. Furthermore, Duren’s restricted free agency is unlikely to result in an offer sheet, and Allen’s fit in a potential LeBron sign-and-trade scenario has too many moving parts to bank on.

Deveney’s report described a franchise that believes its core, Doncic, Reaves, and LeBron, if he returns, is strong enough that the center position is a complement rather than a cornerstone.

In addition, the Thunder’s financial reality makes this complicated. With the looming max contracts of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren set to kick in, they face the threat of the second apron and will need to make hard choices. The defending champions posted a 103.2 defensive rating with Hartenstein on the floor and a 15.6 net rating in those minutes, and these are numbers that explain why he has been described as integral to the team’s on-court dominance during his two-year tenure. Thus, declining his option would be a significant loss for OKC, but their finances may force their hand.

A Western Conference executive described the Lakers’ plan as building around Luka Doncic as the star, with Austin Reaves as the franchise’s focal point, adding, “Luka Doncic is 27, he just turned 27. Austin Reaves is 27. That’s what they’re looking for, guys in their early prime who can grow alongside those two.”

Regardless, it will be a busy offseason for Pelinka and his team. They know they need to build a strong roster to close the gap with next season’s conference favorites, the OKC Thunder. And sorting out their center problem will be the best place to start.