NBA executive offers reality check on Lakers trade rumors

The Los Angeles Lakers may be involved in some trade rumors, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re anxious to make any deals, as one NBA executive recently noted.

“You’re always gonna get Lakers trade rumors and, look, they have some guys they can move and some holes they can fill,” the executive told Heavy Sports. “But that is true of everyone. I think for them, they’re looking at it like they still don’t know what they are and everything they need to fix that roster is already on that roster. It’s a matter of health. You don’t want to make a trade to fix something that is going to be fixed in a couple of weeks once everyone’s healthy anyway.”

A report earlier this month linked the Lakers to several teams as possible trade partners.

Los Angeles is fresh off arguably its worst loss of the 2023-24 regular season to this point thanks to the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers lost to the Spurs — who were riding an 18-game losing streak heading into the game — by a final score of 129-115 on Friday.

The Spurs managed to snap their losing streak thanks partly to a fantastic scoring performance from wing Devin Vassell.

Vassell — who is averaging 18.5 points per game in 19 appearances with the Spurs so far during the 2023-24 regular season — dropped a game-high 36 points while shooting 12-of-19 from the floor and 5-of-10 from behind the 3-point line. He also finished with six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

Rookie big man Victor Wembanyama also put together a solid two-way performance for the Spurs. He ended up with 13 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks across 31 minutes of playing time.

The Lakers’ loss to the Spurs marked the team’s 11th loss of the season so far. At 15-11, the Lakers own the eighth-best record in the Western Conference and are five games back of the Minnesota Timberwolves — who own a 19-5 record — for the No. 1 seed in the conference.

Los Angeles will play its next game against the New York Knicks on Monday. After facing the Knicks, the Lakers will play the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

If the Lakers continue to hover near the .500 mark in the time leading up to February’s trade deadline, perhaps the team will make a trade or two. After all, considering LeBron James is 38 years old and not getting any younger, the Lakers are in win-now mode.