The Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in a tight race for the Western Conference playoffs but they might need to get creative in order to get there. Thanks to an avalanche of injuries they currently find themselves sitting ninth, one spot short of the playoffs, and may feel some pressure to get a deal done before the Feb. 7 NBA trade deadline that will give them the boost that they need.
With that in mind, a recent report revealed that the Lakers were one of the teams holding trade talks with the Dallas Mavericks for disgruntled point guard Dennis Smith Jr. With Lonzo Ball lost to an ankle injury, Smith would give the Lakers another ballhandler to turn to.
As noted on this episode of the Lakers Nation News Feed, while it appears that the Mavs didn’t find the offer they were hoping for and plan to now keep Smith, the Lakers’ involvement in these talks still reveals some details of their plans moving forward.
The team is essentially looking to accomplish three goals currently, as they want to make the playoffs this season, maintain salary cap flexibility to chase top free agents this summer, and keep their tradable assets in case a deal materializes for a star, such as Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Accomplishing all three simultaneously wouldn’t be easy, but a trade for Smith just might be able to check all the boxes.
That said, with talks fizzling it would appear that Smith will be staying in Dallas for the time being, but if nothing else it looks as though Los Angeles will once again be aggressive in their quest to build a contender.
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