It was exactly one year ago, on January 23, 2023, when the Los Angeles Lakers began reformatting their team on the fly.
With the NBA trade deadline approaching in less than three weeks and his team stuck with a sub-.500 record after the halfway point of the schedule, Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka traded Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks. to the Washington Wizards to acquire Rui Hachimura.
A flurry of movement came at the deadline, and the Lakers, a team that failed to win one of every two games for most of the season, went 18-9 (winning two of every three) to clinch a place in the postseason and reach the Western Conference finals.
Just over half this season, the Lakers are once again hovering around .500 (22-22 and No. 9 in the West after winning three of their last four heading into Tuesday's game against the LA Clippers) and again have to decide if they are now the moment. to reshape this list. And to what extent.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said Sunday that Los Angeles “absolutely” has enough to compete for a championship with stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James, as long as his teammates do their best around him.
“We know we have an incredible 1-2 with AD and Bron,” Ham said. “And it's just about guys getting comfortable and being aggressive and not waiting for those two guys to do everything. Do your part, be supportive, but also be a threat. Be deliberate. Be decisive. So we can help support them.” those guys need.”
With that in mind, here are the three possible paths forward for the Lakers as the February 8 NBA trade deadline is just 16 days away.
Option 1: Stay still
Ham has good reason to have faith in these Lakers, even with their ups and downs. His core fueled a long playoff run and he remains a threat in the eyes of his rival.
“With the experience they have, the record, it doesn't matter if they're No. 1 or No. 12. You see them, you see them the same way,” Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. weekend. “To me, that team is made for the playoffs.”
And the Lakers have barely had a chance to see what they have so far. The front office wanted a one-month period to fully evaluate this group, team sources told ESPN, but so many injuries early in the season prevented an honest look.
The closest the Lakers came to that assessment was in January, when they went 5-5 and beat some good teams like the Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks, but also lost to the Memphis Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets.
With only 14 roster spots filled, Los Angeles could be busy in the buyout market to address a specific need (a big body or a shooter, for example) and hope the team is healthier in the second half of the season. to build continuity. and the impulse.
This strategy could also pay off in the summer, when Los Angeles could look to land a big name via trade.
The Lakers currently only have one future first-round pick available to trade, but starting on NBA draft day, they will have three: 2031, 2029, and 2024 or 2025, depending on whether New Orleans chooses to use the 2024 pick previously received. of Los Angeles or postpone it until the next draft.
The Lakers have internally discussed the possibility of packaging three picks, along with players they already have on their books, to look for a true star, such as the Cleveland Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell or the Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young, team sources told ESPN.
This summer could also require a bigger center if there is a disappointment in the playoffs. Would James opt out of his contract for 2024-25 and look elsewhere? If so, would the Lakers need to keep that extra draft pick to help reinvent everything in a post-James LA?
Unlike James' final season in Cleveland in 2017-18, when the Cavaliers made it clear that any trade involving their projected 2018 first-round lottery pick would depend on James' commitment to remaining with the franchise, the Lakers did not They have spoken preventively. James' representatives told ESPN about the star's future plans, a source familiar with the situation told ESPN.
Option 2: Shake it
As Ham acknowledged, the reason this Lakers team is considered formidable is because James and Davis are healthy and have consistently played at a high level.
The same can't be said for the players around them.
While the three-star system didn't fit with Russell Westbrook flanking those two, could there be another top-tier talent worth pursuing?
Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls is not considered an option at this time, team and league sources told ESPN. The reasons are varied: Injuries have already cost him 18 games this season, his production has not translated into team success in Chicago, and nearly $90 million guaranteed to him over the next two years, with an additional $49 million player option for 2026-27. — there would be too much risk for Los Angeles
However, Dejounte Murray is still in the conversation. The Hawks' 27-year-old combo guard is posting career-highs in points (21.1), shooting percentage (47.1%) and 3-point percentage (38.2%), along with 4.9 rebounds, 5, 0 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
With Murray making $18.2 million this season, Los Angeles could save luxury tax money by acquiring him in a two-for-one trade. And if the Lakers make a full recovery, a two-for-one deal would be prudent beyond the salary implications. They built their team with depth in mind to endure the 82-game season.
However, as roles become more defined and it becomes clear who is out of the rotation, several players can be included to match salary or possibly recoup draft capital. That was the case when Los Angeles parted ways with Thomas Bryant and Patrick Beverley as part of a four-team trade in February 2023 and regained two second-round picks from the Clippers.
But at what price? The Hawks recently inquired about Austin Reaves, team and league sources told ESPN, but Los Angeles has no desire to move the popular homegrown talent.
As much as Murray would add, infusing speed and playmaking to a Lakers team that lacks both, would it be enough to part with some combination of D'Angelo Russell, Hachimura, a future first-round pick, Reaves or other players? youths? ?
The Lakers are also aware that a team's outlook can change in a matter of weeks. Just look at how sinusoidal his own season has been. It's entirely possible that other big names will become available as the calendar turns from January to February.
Option 3: Split the difference
A player and a role that is missing from the team practically throughout the season is that of substitute point guard. Los Angeles has lamented that its roster lacks speed, consistent paint penetration and second-unit organization, team sources told ESPN, without Gabe Vincent, who has been out with a left knee injury. Two players who have been discussed internally to fit that spot are Collin Sexton of the Utah Jazz and Tyus Jones of the Wizards, sources told ESPN.
The Toronto Raptors have two players on their roster that the Lakers are also interested in, sources said: Dennis Schroder and Bruce Brown. Schroder was Los Angeles' backup point guard last season before signing with Toronto for the full mid-level exception in the summer.
With the Raptors already completing a trade with the New York Knicks to acquire two ball-dominant players in RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, Schroder could become expendable. And Brown was the Lakers' top target with their mid-level exception in the offseason, team sources told ESPN, but LA was passed over, with the Indiana Pacers offering Brown a two-year, $45 million contract.
The Lakers have also considered trading players who could address specific needs in a potential playoff matchup, such as the Bulls' Andre Drummond, in anticipation of a postseason rematch with the Denver Nuggets and their big front line of Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon, sources saying. Dorian Finney-Smith of the Brooklyn Nets is a big wing that Los Angeles could target for a playoff series with the Clippers to try to neutralize Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Another player with similar size to Finney-Smith and an even more polished offensive game is Miles Bridges of the Charlotte Hornets, but Los Angeles is unlikely to seek a trade for him, sources told ESPN, because he would not retain his Bird rights. , meaning the Lakers would only get Bridges for the remainder of 2023-24 because he would likely find more lucrative offers in free agency than Los Angeles could offer.
Perhaps the biggest question the Lakers will have to answer is what to do with Russell.
He has been phenomenal since returning to the starting lineup, averaging 27.2 points in his last five games. And he has a valuable contract, earning $17.3 million this season with an $18.7 million player option for next season.
However, he's also the same player who was benched in the conference finals last season, and the Lakers got him to waive the implied no-trade clause in his contract when they renewed it last summer, something they didn't. can be pressed as such. an organization, if you have the utmost confidence, you will want to keep the player until the deadline.
In a one-for-one deal involving Russell, the Lakers doubt they can find any player who fully complements James and Davis in the same way that Russell's floor spacing and court awareness do on offense. team sources told ESPN.
It will soon become clear if Russell's improved play of late will help his chances of remaining on the roster, or if this hot streak is simply increasing his trade value.
“I have no control over what the front office does, but we can't worry about that in the locker room,” Davis said Sunday. “We focus on what we have here and we try to get wins and we try to win with what we have… Once you start hearing all the rumors and outside noise, it can cause something, I don't want to. They say 'division' in the locker room, but the players who are in those rumors get into the heads and simply the uncertainty of what is going to happen.
“The best thing you can do is not worry about it and just play, and I think that's what we're trying to do right now.”
