The Los Angeles Lakers are just 22-22 so far in the 2021-22 season, but fans shouldn’t expect the team to make a major splash at the NBA’s trade deadline.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi expects that the deadline will be a quiet one for the Lakers despite their needs on the current roster.
If you're a Lakers fan and hope that they'll make some moves, you probably won't like what Woj had to say here:
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“I think, for the most part, the Lakers’ improvement is going to have to come from within,” Wojnarowski said. “They just don’t have tradable assets, especially with so few sellers in the market. There are going to be other teams who can offer those select few sellers better offers than the Lakers will be able to.”
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the Lakers don’t have much to trade in terms of valuable young talent outside of Talen Horton-Tucker, Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn.
Nunn has yet to play in the 2021-22 season due to a knee injury, and Monk is on a minimum deal which will make it harder to match salaries to move him.
Plus, Monk has been an important player for the Lakers this season, and if the team traded him it could make some of its issues even worse this season.
Russell Westbrook is another name that the Lakers could try to move, but his massive contract will also make it hard for teams to match salary and still gain something of value in a trade.
The Lakers will have to hope that the return of Anthony Davis will ignite the team on a run in the second half of the season.
Los Angeles is currently the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.
