The NBA Trade Deadline is exactly one week from Thursday on Feb. 6, meaning the Los Angeles Lakers have seven days to make some final decisions about their team. Their biggest choice revolves around Anthony Davis, who recently went public with a request that the Lakers add another center and allow him to play more power forward. He has been saying this for years, but has never done so with such directness as he did recently.
After that, Davis went down with a nondescript abdominal strain that is expected to sideline him for at least one week. The Lakers plan to re-evaluate him on Wednesday, Feb. 5, meaning he is unlikely to play any more games before the Trade Deadline, adding an interesting wrinkle to the team’s plans.
General manager Rob Pelinka has always shied away from making deals as a response to an injury, and would rather do so when the team is at full strength. But Davis’ injury, according to Dan Woike of The L.A. Times, is not going to change any plans:
One note – I'm hearing the belief is Anthony Davis' injury isn't serious enough to change the Lakers' approach to the deadline https://t.co/HxG1h1KR55
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) January 30, 2025
This injury isn’t like the ones to Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent or any of their other reserve centers. The Lakers know who they are with and without Davis and don’t need to see him on the floor in order to make a determination about who they are as a team.
The Lakers are significantly better team when Davis plays versus when he doesn’t, and regardless of how long he might be out, getting a center seems like a worthwhile investment for L.A.
While he’s out, the Lakers can still get quality starting-caliber play from the center position if they go that route. And when he’s back, he can play some power forward while reserving the Davis-at-center lineups for necessary matchups and moments.
Lakers not pursuing Nikola Vucevic or Jakob Poeltl
The Lakers have been known to desire adding another big man since before the season started and Anthony Davis’ recent comments only furthered that belief that the Lakers are in the market for a center.
There have been multiple names mentioned as possibilities and two that would certainly make sense would be Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic and Toronto Raptors big man Jakob Poeltl. Both would be great additions that would fit in well next to Davis on the Lakers, but as the deadline nears, it sounds as if neither will be joining the purple and gold.
According to recent reports, the Lakers are not expected to pursue either Vucevic or Poeltl as the asking price and salaries for both are too high.
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