LA Lakers in pole position to sign 7-foot center Christian Koloko, likely to face competition from 3 rival teams: Report

The LA Lakers are frontrunners to land seven-footer Christian Koloko to bolster their center department for the upcoming season. The news of LA's interest was reported by NBA insider Shams Charania. He also added that crosstown rivals LA Clippers were in contention to land the big, as were the Toronto Raptors and the San Antonio Spurs.

With Koloko finalizing an NBA return, there has been league-wide interest. Charania tweeted:

"7-footer Christian Koloko is finalizing a return to the NBA and the Los Angeles Lakers are frontrunners to sign him among Raptors, Clippers, and Spurs, sources tell @TheAthletic. Koloko is awaiting clearance to play from the NBA’s fitness panel; however, he is eligible to sign now."

The Cameroonian missed the whole of last season with a serious blood-clotting issue. In January, he was waived by the Raptors and referred to the NBA's Fitness-to-Play panel where he’s been unable to play ever since. In 58 games in the league, the former No. 33 pick in the 2022 draft averaged 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds.

The latest update on Christian Koloko sees him training at full tilt. It remains to be seen if LA can fend off competition to acquire his services for the upcoming season.

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Lakers reporter details how Lakers can acquire Christian Koloko

While LA has wasted no time in heeding Anthony Davis' wish of playing alongside another big in the side, the deal will be a bit of a challenge considering the team has filled all of their 15 spots. LA Times' Dan Woike took to X (formerly Twitter) to explain how the team could land Christian Koloko.

"Went to Sierra Canyon. The Lakers roster is *still* full so this would need to be an Exhibit 10 deal or would require a corresponding move, which would likely cost them cash and/or draft capital."

At the time of writing, there are no concrete reports of what LA are looking to offer for Koloko. His two-way play and his rebounding will serve as a plus for the Purple and Gold.

His addition also lends more depth to the Lakers' frontcourt which has strong defenders in Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt. But with the latter expected to miss the initial part of the season due to recovery from his foot injury, Koloko will find himself in the mix early on if he does land in LA for the upcoming season.