The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, which means the Los Angeles Lakers are running out of time if they want to upgrade their roster to get into championship contention.
The Lakers have had a solid season to this point, sitting in fifth in a loaded Western Conference at 30-19 despite numerous players missing time with injuries. Despite that though, it has become clear that they need to make some moves to truly compete for a title.
L.A. can use some 3-and-D wings and a rim-protecting center, which won’t be easy to acquire given their lack of draft assets. The Lakers have a lot of expiring contracts that could be useful in trades such as Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber and Rui Hachimura, but they only have one tradable first-round pick and one tradable second-round pick to use at the deadline.
Because of that, the latest report from Dan Woike of The Athletic indicates that Rob Pelinka and the Lakers are only looking at marginal moves before the deadline with their sights set on maintaining their cap space for a bigger move this summer:
With Thursday’s trade deadline approaching, that path has only narrowed further. League sources say the Lakers have mostly been pushed to the margins. Some of it is their own doing. The Lakers’ strategy is built on preserving as much cap space as possible next summer when LeBron James’ $52 million contract expires and Austin Reaves’ cap hold projects to be half of his eventual salary. They will also have another $22.5 million coming off the books when contracts expire for veterans Maxi Kleber and Gabe Vincent.
To date, the Lakers have shown significant reluctance to eat into that space.
If the right wing becomes available, however, the Lakers still seem willing to trade future draft capital:
Some rival executives are hearing that the Lakers remain willing to move their 2031 or 2032 first-round pick for the right wing. The problem is, that player doesn’t appear to be available, at least at that price point.
While Pelinka remains active on the trade market leading up to the deadline, he is struggling to find meaningful upgrades:
No one internally is writing off the possibility that the Lakers will look different after Thursday’s trade deadline. Rival teams still describe them as “active.” But the reality is their lack of draft assets, players with trade value and focus on the summer could mean meaningful changes are more likely to come later rather than now.
Things can always change on the day of the deadline, but the reporting on the Lakers have been consistent to this point as no big trade is expected, meaning the roster could look very similar for the rest of the season.
It is worth noting though that L.A. has an open roster spot, so they may be able to add someone on the buyout market after the deadline.
Lakers will be viable threat for Giannis Antetokounmpo in offseason
One of the reasons Pelinka and the Lakers may be hesitant to trade significant assets at the trade deadline is because they are waiting to pursue a star to pair with Luka Doncic in the summer.
That star could be Giannis Antetokounmpo as reports indicate the Lakers will become a viable threat this summer if the Milwaukee Bucks forward is not traded by the deadline.
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