The Los Angeles Lakers have had a strange season. While the team is currently 23-18 and hold the final automatic playoff spot in the Western Conference, they also have the 12th-best point differential in the West, and are one extended absence from LeBron James or Anthony Davis away from finding themselves in some serious trouble — entering Wednesday’s slate of games, they were only 2.5 games up on the 11-seed, which would put them out of the postseason altogether.
All of this is to say that the Lakers are by no means a sure thing to compete for a title in their current position, something that JJ Redick and James admitted to varying extents last week. And apparently, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, it’s gotten to the point that James and Redick are trying to throw their weight around and convince the team to get aggressive on the trade market.
But with the Feb. 6 trade deadline a little more than two weeks away, league sources told ESPN that James and Davis are growing concerned about the Lakers’ ability to make significant roster upgrades with their two tradeable first-rounders. James, a four-time champion, and Davis, a one-time champ, have expressed that they want the franchise to make moves to contend for a championship, with the co-stars believing the Lakers are potentially a piece or two away, sources said.
L.A. did already dip into the trade market, as the team acquired Dorian Finney-Smith from the Brooklyn Nets back in December in an effort to add some shooting and defense around those two. It’s unclear which players on their roster would be the most appealing to opposing teams in trades, but as Charania noted, the Lakers do have a few future first-round picks that they can send out to try and make a deal happen.
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