NBA rumors: Lakers not feeling urgency to make trades
Yesterday at 04:41 PM
The Los Angeles Lakers are 7-4 to start their season. They have sole possession of sixth place in the NBA’s Western Conference. However, the team is in no rush to make a trade.
Several people familiar with the situation and detailed why the Lakers aren’t scrambling to improve their roster, via Jovan Buha The Athletic.
“Based on the intel that has come out, it seems to be that this is going to be a situation that drags into January if not closer to that February 6 trade deadline,” Buha said. “The Lakers might have some incentive to make a trade sooner than later but that doesn't necessarily mean the team that they are trading with has that same incentive. And a lot of these teams again as I mentioned want to see 30, 35, 40 games with their groups to decide which players are keepers, which players are expendable.”
The Lakers hired a new head coach last offseason in J.J. Redick and are not facing any kind of imminent collapse. Giving the group time to settle in and develop chemistry under a new locker room leader makes sense. Buha continued, explaining that the state of the trade market itself is a factor as well.
“Then, once trades start to happen – the market gets set. And you don't want to be the first team, necessarily, to make a deal.”
Lakers have been looking for help at center
With both Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood injured, the Lakers’ depth at center has been thin. Add in Anthony Davis’ preference for playing power forward and the extent to which J.J. Redick utilizes him on offense, and it’s simple to understand why some additional help could be seen as necessary.
The the Lakers have checked on numerous centers, via ClutchPoints’ Anthony Irwin. That list included Jonas Valanciunas, Robert Williams, Myles Turner, and others. Irwin mentioned that help “isn’t on the way, either,” and shared the same sentiment as Buha, who discussed centers on the market and detailed why those targets aren’t likely to be Lakers soon.
“I was talking to a couple of different scouts last night and going through some of the rumored potential centers available some of the centers I've heard and they were saying a lot of those guys they feel like aren't worth a first-round pick, as valuable as the Lakers’ could be at the end of the decade,” he explained. “I disagree, depending on the player, but I also think that there are some players like Jonas Valanciunas who I would not be comfortable giving up a first-round pick for.”
Redick has done a strong job of coaching the Lakers. He has helped the team show improvement despite having roughly the same roster as last year. Help might be on the way for Los Angeles but it doesn’t seem like it will come soon.
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