The Los Angeles Lakers are among the NBA teams most prominently in trade rumors ahead of this season’s trade deadline (Feb. 8), and a Lakers insider recently offered some insight into what the team is looking for.
“The Lakers clearly need to establish a semblance of consistency with their performance, energy, effort and playing rotations,” wrote The Athletic’s Jovan Buha. “At the same time, they likely need to make a trade or two. The team is putting a greater emphasis on adding a defensive wing by the trade deadline, according to team sources. The issue, of course, is that every team could use another wing. Prospective prices are high.”
With standout defender Jarred Vanderbilt recently going down with a foot injury, it makes sense that the team is focusing on adding some juice on defense.
It was initially reported that Vanderbilt was set to at least miss several weeks, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently offered an even more concerning update.
There’s “concern” that Jarred Vanderbilt could miss the rest of the season, per @wojespn
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) February 4, 2024
Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale of the Brooklyn Nets are two possible options for the Lakers ahead of the deadline. Los Angeles is reportedly eyeing them as well as some others, including Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray.
Finney-Smith (38.3 percent from deep) and O’Neale (36.4 percent from deep) are both solid 3-and-D options for the Purple and Gold.
NBA insider Jake Fischer recently said that the Lakers and Utah Jazz are the only two teams who have made real offers for Murray.
Bruce Brown is another player the Lakers have been linked to, but they’ve supposedly at least “temporarily moved away” from talks with the Toronto Raptors surrounding him.
Time is ticking for Rob Pelinka and company to make any moves they feel will help them for the rest of this season and beyond. However, it’s worth noting that the organization reportedly hasn’t internally reacted to LeBron James’ apparent attempts to apply pressure.
After Saturday night’s thrilling win against the New York Knicks, the Lakers are 26-25. That record puts them in ninth place in the Western Conference, and they are three games back of the Phoenix Suns (28-21 and in sixth) for the conference’s final guaranteed playoff spot.
Los Angeles has one more game (on Monday at the Charlotte Hornets) before the trade deadline comes and goes. Its next game after that is on Feb. 8 — but after the deadline.
Perhaps a new player or two will be on Los Angeles’ roster by then.
