Report: Lakers will be looking to add big men and perimeter defenders ahead of trade deadline

The Los Angeles Lakers have run into some trouble lately, dropping six of their last eight games to fall to 12-10 on the season.

Some fans feel like L.A.’s roster has holes that need to be addressed. Whether or not anything comes to fruition remains to be seen, but according to the latest buzz, the Lakers are looking to fortify their frontcourt and add perimeter defense in order to bolster their roster.

“[Brandon] Ingram’s first NBA franchise is indeed whispered often by scouts as a potential destination for the next Ingram trade, but I haven’t been given any indication that the Lakers are looking to pursue him now,” wrote NBA insider Jake Fischer. “All credible signals circulating about the Lakers suggest that L.A. is looking to fortify its frontcourt and add perimeter defense to assist LeBron James and Anthony Davis.”

The Lakers have been linked to players like Kyle Kuzma, Walker Kessler and Jonas Valanciunas. They could evaluate a number of different options in trying to address frontcourt and perimeter defense help. This season, the trade deadline is set for Feb. 6, giving L.A. about two months to get something done.

The Purple and Gold were 10-4 at one point this season and looked to be trending in a positive direction under first-year head coach J.J. Redick, but optimism has dwindled lately among fans as the team has struggled.

In their last game, the Lakers lost by 41 points to the Miami Heat. They’re now hoping to avoid a three-game losing streak, and in order to do it, they’ll have to take care of business against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

As one of the NBA’s marquee franchises, the Lakers are frequently mentioned in trade rumors. That doesn’t always mean that L.A. is going to get something done, but in the 2022-23 season, the team made a number of moves ahead of the trade deadline that helped it make a run to the Western Conference Finals.

That came in L.A.’s first season with former head coach Darvin Ham. In recent history, the Lakers have had success in their first season under a new head coach. In the 2019-20 campaign, they won an NBA title in their first season under former skipper Frank Vogel. Redick would certainly love nothing more than to keep the trend alive and help the Lakers make a deep run this season.

But until a trade happens (if one comes at all), Redick will have to try to get the most out of the roster he currently has and keep his ninth-place squad in the postseason mix.