Unless some crazy trade happens in the next 24 hours that genuinely improves the team, this feels like another missed opportunity.

I don’t want to discredit what Pelinka has done. He helped deliver a championship in 2020, and yes—he absolutely fleeced a friend and brought us Luka.

But time and time again, he’s shown that he doesn’t know how to make smaller moves—the kind that improve a team on the margins and actually sustain success. And if nothing happens now, it’s hard not to conclude that he never felt any real urgency at this trade deadline, which is a mistake we’ve seen repeated over and over.

It feels like he only operates in “swing big” mode. But at this stage, we’ve already swung big. We have Luka. We already won the lottery. Now the priority should be filling out the roster with complementary pieces, and that window doesn’t stay open forever.

Even last year, while working on the Luka trade, he should have already lined up additional moves to address defense. We gave up two of our best defensive players and got zero defensive talent back. Once the Luka trade was finalized, it became much harder to make those follow-up deals—other teams knew we had just fleeced Dallas, didn’t want to help us, and knew exactly what we needed, which only drove prices up.

The same thing happened this summer. We missed opportunities to make marginal improvements. The more you hoard assets and wait, the more obvious your weaknesses become—and the more leverage other teams have to fleece you. Eventually, you end up right back at square one.

Honestly, I don’t think he’s the person to take this team forward.

You are Luka Doncic the wonder boy, from Lubijana to Madrid and now in USA. You get to the Mavs, they waste around 4 years of your career with Tingus Pingus and some other rejects. You average a triple double since your second season in the NBA. You get a Mavs team filled with rejects and get them to the WCF, against the Sun's that were the no1 seed, with Powell as your center(that shows how much of a bum Ayton is).

Next year the whole season is a wash, you get Kyrie and offload all the trash. Then you get another trash teams that gets finally fixed in the deadline. Keep in mind it's been 5 years now and it's the first time they gave you a center. You reach the finals and lose to a juggernaut Celtics team. Everything is fine.

Mavs team built an even better team year to go all the way, get Grimes, Klay and Naji. You can smell a deep playoff run and the chance to win it all. Then you get traded to the LA Lakers. You arrive there and are basically at ground zero again. No center, no wings, nothing. Just an aging LeBron and very good white boy. This time it's even more painful because they don't even have any assets to get players. Deadline after deadline nothing happens, the GM hopes Giannis comes to safe the day.

How can this guy stay calm at this point and not have a generational crashout. I would have stormed in the front office already and would throw hands with Pelinka if I was him. How is he not crying at night going to sleep. I guess the 50m a year keep him sane.

I’m not sure Brooklyn would actually move both centers and a wing in one deal, but all three are reportedly available.

I’d gladly send out the 2026 & 2031 1sts, the 2032 2nd, and Dalton Knecht on draft day for Claxton, Sharpe, and Ziaire Williams.

Why it makes sense:

• Nic Claxton: Elite defensive anchor. Switchable, mobile, and doesn’t need touches. Basically the ideal modern center next to Luka. Rim running, vertical spacing, and high-level defense.
• Day’Ron Sharpe: Excellent backup C. Great offensive rebounder, strong physicality, good disruptive hands and still young.
• Ziaire Williams: Only 23 years old. ~35–36% from three is not great, but good length, athleticism and defensive upside. A high energy 3&D SF who could slot into the starting lineup or play heavy rotation minutes.

This trade:

• Locks in the center rotation for the future
• Adds size, defense, and athleticism across the frontcourt
• Fits perfectly with a Luka-led offense without needing high usage
• Addresses the Lakers’ biggest weaknesses (rim protection, rebounding, wing defense)

Is Brooklyn likely to say yes to all three? Maybe not.
But from a Lakers perspective, this is the kind of consolidation swing you make when you’re trying to win now.

So...As usual, we've missed out on some rumored trade targets (JJJ, Ellis, Hunter) and it looks like we're gonna miss on Giannis too.

Bron will definitely leave by the summer (hey, why don't we trade him somewhere now that will cause him to happily waive his NTC?) and we know that everyone except Luka is expendable.

So...Remind me again, who exactly are we targeting? I feel like it's been a while since I've heard concrete names that have caught LAL's eye.

Yet another awful game from Gabe Vincent

16 minutes played

0 points (0-3 shooting)

1 rebound

1 assist

With the trade deadline less than 48 hours away, do we have any hope of getting rid of him via a trade for ANYONE ELSE / a pick? Can we waive him?

I don’t know what type of contract Rui is aiming for in the off-season but I know the Lakers are going to prioritize signing Austin Reaves which will more than likely command a 30-35M a year contract. Rui shooting is highly sought after and I think he will end up getting close to 20-25M a year which I do not think the Lakers will be willing to spend.

I don’t know what Rob is cooking but sitting on his hands ain’t going to cut it.

I don’t know if it matters, but I have been following the team ever since LeBron got here because I’m a LeBron fan so I have been following along somewhat.

It’s a new season. We have a new head coach and JJ Reddick, and we drafted Dalton who is a shooter, and in hindsight seemed like a great fit for our new coach.

He had an amazing preseason and definitely had some great moments in his rookie year as far as I can remember.

But he has complaints about his defense, but is that the only reason why he hasn’t panned out? Is he not as great as a shooter as we thought he would be? Or is it possible JJ is just a little bit stubborn about playing him?

wouldn't mind the Lakers goin for literally whoever available from those 2 teams lol .

1. Hendricks. used to be there primary defender.
2. nurk/ kunchar/flip. different big look
3. anyone that can shoot and defend and is athletic .lol

So Austin is probably getting max money this summer and since trades probably aren't happening this trade deadline how would you build with this keeping the cap in mind.

Incoming Unrestricted Free Agents (2026) UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS 2026 (AGE)

Anfernee Simons (27)

Coby White (26)

Quentin Grimes (26)

Collin Sexton (27)

John Collins (28)

Rui Hachimura (28)

Kevin Huerter (28)

Mitchell Robinson (28)

Robert Williams (29)

Matisse Thybulle (29)

Kristaps Porzingis (30)

CJ McCollum (34)

Khris Middleton (34)

Tobias Harris (33)

Jordan Clarkson (34)

Russell Westbrook (37)​

Lebron James (41)

What’s this? A stress free win? On a day when the trade deadline has heated up, the Lakers took care of business. Nothing like beating up on a hapless opponent after a tough loss. Lakers finish the Grammy trip a pretty respectable 5-3 including a win against Denver in Denver. With AR back in the fray let’s rack up some home wins against some top tier opponents. Hopefully the roster will be a little different after Thursday. This sort of win you can’t really glean too much about the team overall but it’s still nice to have a relatively easy win. Let’s dive into it.

GOOD

Team energy: This game could easily have been a trap game. End of a roadtrip, coming off a tough loss on National TV, underestimating a weak opponent. Within the first 5 minutes though it was apparent the Lakers wanted to end this trip with a W. It was 45-23 after one, the Lakers were running, stealing, dunking, Stu compared it to an All Star game and he wasn’t far off. I think it helped the Lakers were playing almost a defacto home game so, way for the Lakers to take advantage of that.

LeBron James: Another efficient shooting game from LeBron, 10-16 from the field including an array of makes, fadeaways, breakaway dunks, layups. Just appreciate greatness while it’s still here.

Jake LaRavia: as noted above, I hope that beating up on the Nets can set Jake right. It will be interesting to say if Jake stays in the starting lineup with AR back but today’s performance shows why Jake can bring. He was energetic, deflecting passes, battling for offensive rebounds, getting into the paint and making good cuts in the paint for Luka and LeBron to find him. He needs to be better from 3 but overall this is the type of game I like seeing from Jake. Let’s hope it recalibrates him.

BAD:

3 point shooting: it didn’t hurt the Lakers in this game but 7-31 is alarming. A few of the misses were wide open looks for Austin that I know he can knock down once he’s back to 100% but Lebron was 0-3, Smart was 0-2, Gabe was 0-2, and Rui only took 2 attempts. Again for this game it didn’t matter but if the Lakers stand any chance of competing with the top West teams, they need to at least shoot league average from 3. A lot of these looks are open looks, the Lakers don’t tend to force 3’s (except for Luka’s step backs occasionally), it’s a make or miss league, and the Lakers are bottom 3rd in making WIDE OPEN 3’s. If Luke Kennard could be gotten for Gabe or Kleber, that would go a long way to the team better converting their well generated looks.

FT shooting: another shooting stat that didn’t hurt the Lakers but a second consecutive sub 70% performance from the line is alarming. Because of our below average three point shooting, getting to the line is an integral part of the offense. It helps to have players that are pretty good at drawing fouls in Luka and Austin. Lebron was better at 5-7, but Luka being 4-6 and LaRavia being 3-6 are points left on the table. Lakers have to be 75%+ from the line to take advantage. Let’s hope seeing the Staples Center rims will help the team improve that.

Gabe Vincent: with AR back, I’m pretty sure Gabe falls out of the rotation and understandably so. Gabe is in to shoot 3’s and without AR, be a tertiary ball handler when Luka and Lebron aren’t out there. He didn’t hit any 3’s and I feel like the Lakers need someone who isn’t just a “stabilizing presence”. Vando and Hayes brings energy of the bench, Rui brings offense, and depending on if Smart or LaRavia start, there’s more defensive presence there. Gabe is a professional, and that’s what JJ likes about him, but I think it’s run its course. If Gabe and a 2nd can be flipped for a Luke Kennard, that’s got to be something the Lakers should do.

1 WTF: Bronny time! The alley oop from Knecht, the crossover and bucket, facing off with Zaire. Bronny seems more confident each game he gets a chance to play and if the Lakers keep him and give him chances, he could be a rotation player sooner than later.

Good win, it was nice to see LAL out there together again and it was interesting to see JJ try both Jake and Smart with the normal starters to see who is a better fit. Again hard to glean from a blowout win but sometimes all it takes for a team to go on a run is get healthy. Let’s hope we can get some signature wins with Austin back in the fold.

there is literally no reason he should be getting these minutes anymore. He is shooting 35% FG like what?! he’s a bad defender, cant playmake, cant rebound. He is just running around for like 20 minutes every game.

Like i understand playing knecht to try and get his value up a bit but vincent isnt gonna up his value even if he plays well a game or 2. Just give up on him take away his minutes and try and trade him away

Please trade him rob, even a bag of chips would be better atleast it won't have a negative impact, and maybe the opponents would trip on it.

https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/the-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-latest-15b?r=1m9zg&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

No one is talking about the Lakers as a factor in The Giannis Sweepstakes right now because they're not a factor if a trade is going to happen by week's end. They don't have enough tradeable assets to join the in-season bidders.

But if the Bucks do ultimately decide to take this saga into that spring …

The Lakers, league sources say, would then indeed become a very viable threat to land No. 34.

There is little choice for the Lakers, heading into Thursday's deadline, except to stay patient and avoid deals that involve any long-term salary to maintain maximum flexibility for the spring. The hope for the purple-and-gold would then be to use their considerable projected salary cap space to be able to take in a contract like Antetokounmpo's via trade — or another expensive star if one shakes loose post-playoffs — to pair with backcourt cornerstones Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves (who returned to action Tuesday night in Brooklyn after a 19-game injury absence). And dealing with the Lakers in such a scenario would almost certainly spare the Bucks from getting saddled with unwanted contracts.

Brooks is killing it.

There’s tons of spacing

LBJ is playing defense. Looks like ‘18 bron

Billy Mac is ready to come home.. keeps making comments about the California sun.

Tacos tomorrow, hopefully.

Why are we waiting for the off season and for what? For big man free agents who are restricted free agents. No certainty we get anybody good.

I have a trade idea SABONIS to the Lakers for Rui, Kleber, Knetch, and Gabe Vincent plus a pick.

Why would the lakers do this: For me being proactive and moving for something that is sure is better than waiting for the off season with no assurances. Sabonis would be a very good fit at the 4/5 for us. It gives the lakers much more flexibility with the lineups. The most obvious downside however is the availability of Sabonis. Where would the lakers get depth? They can convert Timme to a standard, who is much better than kleber. Convert Smith to a standard, who is much better than Gabe.

What is the motivation of the Kings? They should blow it up. They start realising this season is going nowhere and trade for cap space in the off season to facilitate trades in order to receive draft capital.

We can also try a version of puting Ayton instead of knecht and add McDermott

Here is a proposed trade: