The Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in a peculiar position as after a rough start to the season, they began to find their way led by the dominance of Anthony Davis.
Unfortunately though, Davis went down with a foot injury in last Friday’s win over the Denver Nuggets and now is expected to miss some time. Given the uncertainty of Davis and his health, the Lakers could approach the February trade deadline in a variety of ways.
If they don’t want to swing a blockbuster involving Russell Westbrook and their 2027 and 2029 first-round draft picks, then they could potentially make smaller deals involving one or neither of those picks to improve around the edges.
In the even the Lakers go that route, it is not a surprise to hear the Lakers have interest in Orlando Magic wing Terrence Ross, via Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports:
There are certainly pieces for Orlando to move ahead of this season’s deadline, but the Magic won’t be gaining nearly the return they saw two years before.
Terrence Ross has long garnered interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, sources said.
The Lakers having interest in Ross around this time of the year has become a yearly tradition as they were first linked to him in 2018, then 2019 and then again at the deadline last season.
Ross has appeared in 29 games (eight starts) for the Magic this season, averaging 8.3 points while shooting 36.6% from 3-point range on 4.2 attempts, which is right around his career average.
A 6-foot, 7-inches, Ross would give the Lakers some much-needed size on the wing along with outside shooting. The 31-year-old is in the final year of his contract and making $11.5 million, so the Lakers could swap Patrick Beverley and draft compensation for him to make the money work if the Magic are interested.
LeBron James not focusing on trade decisions
In the wake of Davis’ injury and with the trade deadline approaching, LeBron James was asked if he was concerned that the Lakers’ trade plans may have shifted. He wasn’t willing to answer that question though, saying he is focused on what’s happening on the court.
“Not a question for me,” LeBron said when asked following the Lakers’ win over the Washington Wizards. “I have no idea. I’m playing, I show up. Prepare, work, go to work. Get my guys ready to go win a basketball game. I play the game, I’m not in the front office. We’ll see, but I’m focused on the game, and that’s trying to win basketball games, especially when I’m out on the floor.”
James later went on to insist the same question be asked to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
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