Two seasons ago, the Los Angeles Lakers’ last game before the trade deadline felt like a referendum on the franchise’s standings – a 42-point loss to the Indiana Pacers when rumors spread. Tuesday’s 128-111 road loss for the New Orleans Pelicans was not Which after all, for the Lakers, they’re the defending NBA champions, but the resulting fear was eerie.
“You have to be realistic,” said Kyle Kuzma afterwards, who was left as the player’s standard spokesman with LeBron James and Anthony Davis both out due to injuries. “It’s a challenge. But it’s not nothing we can’t overcome.”
The Pelicans game got ugly, with the Lakers trailing a whopping 30 points – which coincidentally coincided with the number of points they were outperformed in the paint (62-32) – while they were without their best defender at Davis. and their starting center, Marc Gasol, who missed his ninth game in a row when he climbed up after a stint in the competition’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
As the 2019 Lakers hit rock bottom in Indiana, tension came from the team’s chase to Davis, with LA’s young roster of budding stars wondering if the sun was setting at the start of their careers in Southern California.
These Lakers are not in an identical situation. Some of those young players from two years ago were on the other side of things on Tuesday, with Brandon Ingram leading all the goalscorers with 36 points on 14-for-21 shots and Josh Hart with 15 rebounds, five assists and five steals, even though he fired. only 1-out-9. (Their fear of the February 2019 deadline was not unfounded – the Davis trade with the pelicans continued four months later.)
No, the Lakers aren’t going to make any major changes to get a second star this time to pair up with James. They have their franchise pillars, although one is in a walking boot and the other hasn’t played since Valentine’s Day.
However, there is still pressure to improve around the margins and increase their chances of championships in the postseason. For much of the season it seemed like it would mean going through the buyout market for one or two impact veterans, just like LA added Markieff Morris last year, and he became a vital part of their run in the bubble.
But now, on a three-game loss, taking the Lakers’ record to 7-10 since Davis was injured and dropped to No. 4 in the Western Conference standings – just 2 ½ games up from No. 6 Portland – those plans can be modified.
“I think it will certainly affect our mindset when the trade deadline comes,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said over the weekend when asked about the condition of his team.
One name mentioned as a potential candidate to be moved is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The shooting guard was awarded a three-year deal of $ 40 million that came out of a post-season in which he averaged 10.7 points on 37.8% from a distance of 3 points, while being one of the perimeter’s most reliable defenders the Lakers had, but he’s seen his. A 3-point percentage dip this season from 52.9% in December, to 46.0% in January to 32.1% in February, to come back to 37.5% this month before the 1-for-7 shooting evening of Tuesday. When asked about where he is, he was honest.
“I don’t know who’s all in the trading conversation, I haven’t really paid attention or even heard anything about it,” he said. ‘It was the first time I’d heard about it. But I don’t know … Man I feel like the energy is good, I don’t think nobody cares about a subject unless they keep it personal. ‘
The Lakers certainly keep things personal. While it is fashionable for some league executives to relay trade intentions to the media as a sort of trial balloon to gauge a player’s worth, virtually none of the rumors you read this week come from Laker’s vice president. basketball operations. and CEO Rob Pelinka’s office in El Segundo, California.
That’s a different way things are different from two years ago, when the Lakers were complicit in the chaos that took place ahead of the deadline with the information they were circulating.
No, it’s not the Lakers ‘fault that they only had 71 days off-season, and the quick turnaround could have contributed to Davis’ right leg injury. They had no control over Solomon Hill who ducked into James’ ankle to try to steal the ball. Little did they know their favorites status would be so short-lived with a former MVP in James Harden forcing out of Houston to join a few other attacking maestros in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets, making Brooklyn’s opportunities were catapulted. as contenders. They couldn’t pick the spot on the schedule that James would play out in a torturous series of eight games in 12 days.
However, that is the reality. That’s what things stand for, which is why this moment, less than 48 hours before Thursday’s trade deadline, has the same feeling with the Lakers as two days before the deadline two years ago.
Much is at stake.
“I expect we will win games with this group, and I believe in the group we have,” said Vogel. “If nothing happens [at the trade deadline], we’re going to win games and we’ll figure out a way to win games along this journey, and we’ll benefit from that in the long run. I’m not sure if we’ll see any changes or not. … Most trade terms are a lot of conversations that don’t work, and that’s my expectation as a coach. “
For Kuzma, one of the few remnants, along with Alex Caruso, who stuck from that young core a few years ago, some lessons may have been learned.
No matter what happens on the trading deadline, there is work to be done.
“I think we just have to look at the drawing board, keep trusting each other, try to play for each other on both sides of the ball,” said Kuzma. “I think if we can do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance every night.
‘That is the challenge we face. I just have to tie him up and go. ‘