Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 16, 2025
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The Los Angeles Lakers still have the assets to do something big before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, but fans better prepare for an anticlimactic final few weeks.
The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported at the 33:30 mark in the newest episode of his Buha’s Block podcast that “people are starting to temper their expectations as to what the Lakers are actually going to do.”
“I think that there’s some skepticism as to them potentially using the first-round pick and that in part being both the market, in terms of who’s available and what the prices are, but also just in general looking at, teams aren’t—I’m interested to see how many first-round picks are actually moved at this upcoming trade deadline,” he said.
Buha posited that veterans such as Dennis Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith might’ve fetched protected first-rounders in trades in past years. Now, teams are only willing to package multiple second-round picks.
When it comes to the Lakers, Buha said their one move before the deadline might be leveraging second-round draft capital into a backup center.
Washington Wizards center Jonas Valančiūnas has been a frequent topic of speculation with Los Angeles, and The Athletic’s Josh Robbins and David Aldridge cited one source who said Washington might have to settle for a pair of second-rounders if it’s determined to deal him.
Also to Buha’s point, it doesn’t look as though there are a lot of marquee stars who are realistically available. The Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler is an obvious exception, but he’d present some risk given how much drama he has brought to his team this season.
With Wednesday’s 117-108 win over the Butler-less Heat, the Lakers improved to 21-17 and now sit sixth in the Western Conference. They moved a half-game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks, who lost 119-116 to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Things have stabilized for Los Angeles after it was hovering just over .500 in mid-December. That might’ve given general manager Rob Pelinka enough confidence in the squad as currently constructed for the most part.
