Jimmy Butler, Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox and every deal that happened leading up to NBA trade deadline

Butler leaves the Heat after his troubles in Miami this year made headlines for months. Elsewhere, Brandon Ingram is heading to Toronto, while the Lakers got Luka Dončić a center in former Hornet Mark Williams.

The most eventful buildup to the NBA trade deadline in history saw a combined 38 All-Star appearances and 20 All-NBA teams changing teams. Luka Dončić, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, De’Aaron Fox and more were involved.

The latest intel on Lakers’ pursuit of a big man

Now that Luka Dončić is officially a Laker, the attention turns to the question that will be key to their stretch run: Can they find a center who complements the 25-year-old superstar and, ultimately, ensures that his relationship with his new team gets off to a good start?

That much remains to be seen, but this much is clear: Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, whose team has started Jaxson Hayes in the two games since the deal went down, is certainly on the lookout for an upgrade. Dončić made the most of the Mavericks’ rim-running/protecting big men in Dallas, but there’s a void of those types of talents on the Lakers’ roster and an urgent need to find someone to fill that role for these next few months.

Yet when Pelinka discussed this pursuit at Dončić’s news conference on Tuesday morning, he tempered expectations that a prominent big man might be coming their way anytime soon.

“We know we have a need for a big,” Pelinka told reporters. “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 off season. But Luka will be at the center of that, as we build for the long term.”

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). 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.

The Lakers are known to have interest in Portland’s Robert Williams as well. The 27-year-old is signed through next season ($12.4 million this season, $13.2 million next).

The list of candidates is likely long, but — as Pelinka noted — he hasn’t found a fit just yet. It remains entirely possible, if not likely, that the Lakers find a much cheaper short-term option before revisiting the issue in the summer.