Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers took an unusually conservative move by choosing to sit on their hands until the trade deadline passed without executing any form of transaction. Though it may upset fans (particularly LeBron James, who tweets about his hourglass figure), the strategy seemed reasonable.
The Lakers headed into deadline day with a record of 27-25. They are different from the makings of a championship-caliber squad, ranking 20th and 14th in offense and defense, respectively. Even in February, last year's Lakers did not seem like themselves, but fixing them was easy. Remove Russell Westbrook from the court and put Anthony Davis and James back on it. Due to a fortunate bracket, a healthy Laker squad with a more complementary supporting cast made it to the Western Conference Finals.
The solutions could have been more noticeable this time.
The Lakers did not have a vast deal to dangle or a clear negative to remove from the rotation, even though Davis and James have been healthy for the most part. It is just a squad that needs severe shakeups because it has been average recently. No modifications seemed accessible in a trading market where even high-level role players barely moved. Accordingly, the Lakers refrained from pushing the matter. They chose to pass the time.
However, what are they anticipating? I would call that wishful thinking. According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, who broke the story just before the deadline, the Lakers will only move once in the summer. By then, the constraints imposed by the Stepien Rule, which prevented them from trading more than one first-round selection throughout the season, will be lifted. Three first-round trades and three first-round selections will be available to the Lakers. Haynes says the Lakers will try to acquire a superstar via trade. Donovan Mitchell is one name that our own Bill Reiter has suggested.
The Lakers have played this way their whole existence. Over the last sixty years, the Lakers have primarily gone from superstar to superstar, except for a few gaps like the five years between Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal or the three years between Kobe Bryant and James. For the Lakers, this is the source of their remarkable play. Why would the Lakers believe acquiring superstars would be particularly tough if that is all they have ever done?
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