With only 12 days to go before the NBA trade deadline of February 6, the Los Angeles Lakers according to some reports have displayed “little sign of aggression” to make deals, and are apparently unwilling to part with their first-round draft picks in an attempt to give the team a push to improve its playoff standing.
Los Angeles currently sits in the fifth-seed position in the NBA’s Western Conference, which means that unless they can move up at least one space they will not be guaranteed home court advantage in any postseason series. That could be a serious concern for the Lakers who, at 8-12, are owners of the worst road record of any team now in a playoff or even play-in position in the conference. But their record at Crypto.com Arena is 16-6, third best among those top 10 Western teams.
And yet, according to ESPN NBA insider journalist Tim Bontemps, “the Lakers have shown a reticence to put their future first-round picks into trades in recent seasons, and thereâs no indication that position has shifted.”
Lakers Unlikely to Make Impact Deadline Move
Even if the Lakers do make a move at or before the deadline, it will likely be on the margins, according to Lakers Nation writer Corey Hansford, who wrote on Friday that “if the Lakers do make another move, it wonât be for a big name or star to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.” That risks putting the team’s front office at odds with their Big Two megastars.
ESPN NBA insider reporter Shams Charnia wrote earlier this week that James and Davis have been putting pressure on the Lakers’ brass to make a major move to improve the team, believing that as currently constructed the 2020 NBA Champions who reached the Western Conference Finals just two years ago are only a player or two away from making a serious title run in 2025.
With James already at age 40 and Davis at 31, both stars are aware that the window is closing on their chances for bringing an 18th title to the Lakers franchise.
Another Lakers insider journalist, Jovan Buha of The Athletic, believes there is one trade the Lakers must make to give themselves that chance, assuming the trade target becomes available.
Lakers Urged to Target Pacers’ Myles Turner.
That target is 28-year-old, 6’11”, 250-pound Pacers center Myles Turner, who is in the second year of a two-season, $40.9 million contract with Indiana. Buha on his YouTube channel said that he had picked up “chatter” that the Pacers â who at 25-20 hold the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference â may prefer to trade Turner away rather than pay him as a free agent, which he will become after this season.
“If he’s available it would be more so because of Indiana and the contract situation,” Buha said on his channel Friday. “I think if you’re the Lakers you have to go get him because he just fits perfectly next to AD on both sides of the floor. He spaces the floor and he’s a rim protector. That that would be the ideal.”
Buha added that to acquire Turner, Los Angeles would need to “figure out some type of three-team trade, potentially. And I would do that if I’m the Lakers. I think Miles Turner would fit great.”
Another NBA reporter, Jake Fischer, also said that Indiana may be looking to unload Turner.
“Every rival executive I’ve spoken to has said that they don’t anticipate Indiana wanting to pay the salary that Myles Turner is, in theory, going to be looking for. He’s going to want 30 [million per year],” Fischer said on the Dunc’d On Basketball NBA Podcast. “There’s so much skepticism that Indiana’s going to want to do it.”
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