According to NBA insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Los Angeles Lakers may stand pat or make a marginal move at the trade deadline.
The Lakers, after beating the Charlotte Hornets last night, improved to 27-25 on the season. They are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings.
“Though (LeBron) James has made it clear that he’d like for the organization to approach this deadline with the all-in approach he prefers, the likelihood that the Lakers stand pat or make a marginal move has somewhat increased in recent days, according to team and league sources,” Buha wrote. “Their 2029 draft pick is valuable; if they keep it, they’ll be armed with three first-round picks to trade this summer. The market continues to favor sellers rather than buyers. The Lakers have also grown more confident in their potential for internal improvement.”
The Lakers have been linked to Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray, Toronto Raptors guard Bruce Brown and Brooklyn Nets players Spencer Dinwiddie, Royce O’Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith. The NBA trade deadline is on February 8.
Jarred Vanderbilt will miss the next three to four weeks with a right foot injury, so the Lakers could trade for a strong wing defender since Vando is their best perimeter defender.
The Lakers are 14th in the NBA in points per game and 18th in points per game allowed. LeBron James, who can become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he declines his 2024-25 player option, was asked about the trade deadline after the Hornets game last night.
“This is who we have, so there’s nothing else to talk about,” LeBron said after the Lakers-Hornets game. “I don’t get caught up in that. We’re gonna go out and prepare ourselves every single night no matter what it is. No matter who’s out on this team. No matter what. So it’s my job, and it’s AD’s job as the two captains, to make sure we keep the main thing the main thing. The main focus is now: Thursday’s game at home. And look forward to that matchup.”
