The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2022-23 season has gotten off to a rough start with the team losing games to the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers to start 0-3.
That’s led to questions about the team making a potential trade this season, especially since it’s become abundantly clear that there isn’t enough shooting on the Lakers’ current roster. Los Angeles is shooting just 21.2 percent from beyond the arc as a team, good for dead last in the NBA.
While Lakers fans may want the team to make a deal right now, it doesn’t appear that one is imminent. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed the latest update on the Lakers in the trade market on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
“Utah, Indiana, who the Lakers talked with a lot in the offseason, I’m told they’ve not heard from the Lakers yet this season,” Wojnarowski said.
“And so, people are going to have to get used to a team that’s not going to make dramatic change for a while, if really at all this year.”
That’s not exactly what Lakers fans want to hear, especially with Westbrook struggling early on this season. The former MVP is averaging 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting just 28.9 percent from the field and 8.3 percent from beyond the arc.
That simply isn’t going to cut it if the Lakers keep Westbrook in the starting lineup. It was previously reported that the Lakers will eventually resume trade talks with the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz, but Wojnarowski believes it will be a good chunk into the season.
If that is the case, the Lakers are going to need to make the most out of their current roster until they can come to an agreement on a trade. The last thing Los Angeles wants is to fall out of the playoff race within the first 20 to 30 games of the 2022-23 season.
If the Lakers make a deal involving Westbrook, they will almost certainly need to give up their first-round pick in either the 2027 or 2029 NBA Draft.
However, it could be worth it to add some shooting around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who are both playing well to start the 2022-23 season.
A deal with Utah could be centered around veterans such as Mike Conley, former Laker Jordan Clarkson and Rudy Gay. The Lakers had tried to deal with the Jazz for Bojan Bogdanovic before the team shipped him to Detroit in the offseason.
If Los Angeles decides to explore a deal with Indiana again, it would make sense for the team to try to acquire sharpshooter Buddy Hield as well as center Myles Turner. Both players can shoot the ball from deep, and Turner would give the Lakers an elite shot-blocking presence on the interior.
For now, it appears general manager Rob Pelinka is playing the long game until he can get a deal that he wants.
