Report: Lakers trending in certain direction as trade deadline approaches

With the NBA trade deadline less than one month away at this juncture, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves near the middle of the pack in the Western Conference. The Lakers sit as the No. 6 seed with a record of 22-17.

Despite the notion that Los Angeles seemingly has a lot of room for improvement with the Feb. 6 deadline looming, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported that the tea leaves read that Los Angeles could opt to make a “smaller move” involving second-round draft capital.

“My sense lately, that I’ve been hearing, has been trending more toward them making a smaller move and probably using second-round draft capital, and the issue there is that their second-round draft capital isn’t really worth that much because it’s their pick and the [Los Angeles] Clippers’ pick, and both of those picks are projected right now to be between like 45 and 52 depending on where those two teams finish in the standings, so those aren’t the sexiest second-round picks,” Buha said of the Lakers’ trade intentions. “You typically want a first half of the second round-type pick.”

Second-round picks might not stand out as incredibly valuable assets, but a recent trade between the Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets might have shown that they can still be used to acquire talented players.

Earlier this week, the Suns traded guard Josh Okogie and three second-round picks to the Hornets and received big man Nick Richards plus one second-round pick in return. The Lakers should perhaps follow that blueprint and use their second-round capital to bring in a helpful piece themselves, perhaps in the frontcourt.

L.A. could use some help in that area as they do not have a formidable post presence outside of Anthony Davis. Jaxson Hayes has been in and out of the lineup this season. Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt have yet to even make their season debuts with the team. Christian Koloko hasn’t been able to cement himself as a consistent member of J.J. Redick’s rotation, with his status as a two-way player probably not helping.

But ultimately, the Lakers may be able to put some of their roster concerns to rest if they can string together a torrid stretch of play leading up to the deadline. Los Angeles has already won each of its past two contests, with victories coming over the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets.

Los Angeles will have a shot to win its third game in a row when the team takes on the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night on the road, just a short ride away from Crypto.com Arena.