{"id":497094,"date":"2026-02-24T21:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/497094\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T21:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:12:07","slug":"lakers-linked-to-trade-for-87-million-7-foot-thunder-nba-champion-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/497094\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers linked to trade for $87 million 7-foot Thunder NBA champion center"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/news\/lakers-linked-trade-87-million-7-foot-thunder-nba-champion-center\/15e2ca08f35b54dd2f7eaea8?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=appeared_on\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Lakers linked to trade for $87 million 7-foot Thunder NBA champion center;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Lakers linked to trade for $87 million 7-foot Thunder NBA champion center<\/a> originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=appeared_on\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The Sporting News;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Preferred Source by clicking here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Roster changes typically occur when a franchise disappoints under the bright lights.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>According to the Third Apron\u2019s Yossi Gozlan, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/nba\/oklahoma-city-thunder\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Oklahoma City Thunder;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>\u2019s 2026 postseason shortcomings could benefit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Los Angeles Lakers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> this summer. Specifically, a premature playoff exit could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thirdapron.com\/p\/understanding-the-lakers-quiet-trade?has_completed_unsubscribed_unlock=true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:open the door;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">open the door<\/a> for Los Angeles to trade for the Thunder\u2019s 7-foot NBA champion center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lakers (and 28 other teams) are likely hoping for an early Thunder playoff exit, which could lead to a reduction in roster expenses next year,\u201d Gozlan wrote Monday. \u201cIsaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort would be fantastic additions to the Lakers in free agency if their team options were declined.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although Chet Holmgren is the Thunder\u2019s premier big man, there\u2019s no question Hartenstein has been a valuable role player for Oklahoma City since joining the organization in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>From maximizing his rim-running opportunities to playing fundamentally sound pick-and-roll basketball, Hartenstein excels in his role with the defending-champion Thunder.<\/p>\n<p>Hartenstein is averaging 10.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game with Oklahoma City this season, shooting 64.6% from the field in 32 contests. As Gozlan noted, the Thunder\u2019s failure to build on their remarkable 2024-25 championship run could be great news for the Lakers this summer.<\/p>\n<p>A versatile center like Hartenstein would fit well alongside Luka Doncic in Los Angeles, making a potential trade exciting to envision.<\/p>\n<p>More NBA:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/nba\/golden-state-warriors\/news\/warriors-acquire-6-foot-ex-hawks-guard-g-league-trade\/8052fb420a79a693520388a7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Warriors acquire 6-foot ex-Hawks guard via G-League trade;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Warriors acquire 6-foot ex-Hawks guard via G-League trade<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lakers linked to trade for $87 million 7-foot Thunder NBA champion center originally appeared on The Sporting News.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,5715,14417,1522,8231,12887,459,9585,3555,199208,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-497094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-chet-holmgren","11":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","14":"tag-luka-doncic","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-oklahoma-city","17":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","18":"tag-playoff-exit","19":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}