Considering a big change mid-season was clearly not part of the initial plan at the start of the year. But the current situation of the Lakers, now ninth in the Western Conference, made the Californian franchise a more than legitimate candidate to be active on this “trade deadline”. It has not happened.
The “front office” led by Rob Pelinka has nevertheless tried to strengthen the team, in particular by putting Russell Westbrook in the balance. Chris Haynes for example cited the proposal of the Rockets, to offer John Wall against the leader and a first round of Draft, finally refused by the Lakers. Rob Pelinka was therefore invited to debrief on what looks like a generally enforced status quo.
LeBron and Melo consulted
“We have been aggressive in many discussions to try to improve this team. We still want to put this team in the best position to win a title but we haven’t found an agreement that would have had a net positive effect for the team’s short-term and long-term success. And those are two things that we take into account,” did he declare. “You can’t force another team to come up with a deal that will make your team better (…). As I have done in the past, I had conversations with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony about this and I would say the decision was unanimous. And that’s all that matters. »
The president of the Lakers now finds himself in a delicate situation since after having tried to move the lines of his workforce, he will have to press on the sacred union between the players and the staff.
“If you’re not having success or going through a tough time, you need to look in the mirror, work harder, and do the best you can”he added. “And I think that is the case for all of us. Whether it’s me, a coach or a player: look in the mirror, be better, play harder, care more about the guy next to you. These are all things we can do.”
In his defense, the Lakers’ record has also been weighed down by injuries. And the reasons for hope are present, even if they are thin, since of the 18 times the Westbrook-James-Davis trio has been aligned, the Lakers have a barely positive record: 10 wins – 8 losses.
The buyout market, another option
There remains the Westbrook case, which the Lakers will have to try to get out of the hole. The rescue operation therefore began as soon as the “trade deadline” closed for the Californian leader, between velvet glove and iron fist…
“I’ve had several conversations with Russ since we acquired him in the trade and really enjoyed them. As everyone knows, Russ is a big-hearted person. He wants to win. And he knows that us, with players as successful and influential on the court as Anthony and LeBron are, it’s going to require sacrifices in his game and the way he plays.
Rob Pelinka also indicated that the Lakers would be attentive to potential “buyout” situations. If they manage to strengthen themselves in this way, they should then free themselves from a contract since the roster is currently complete, with 15 players present in the workforce in Los Angeles.
| Tirs | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Lebron James | 39 | 36.7 | 52.6 | 35.4 | 75.3 | 1.1 | 6.6 | 7.7 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 29.1 |
| Anthony Davis | 35 | 35.6 | 53.7 | 17.2 | 71.2 | 2.9 | 7.1 | 10.0 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 23.5 |
| Russell Westbrook | 55 | 34.6 | 43.5 | 29.8 | 66.5 | 1.4 | 6.5 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 4.1 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 18.3 |
| Carmelo Anthony | 50 | 26.5 | 43.7 | 39.2 | 82.4 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 13.4 |
| Malik Monk | 50 | 27.2 | 47.0 | 40.3 | 78.7 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 13.0 |
| Talen Horton-tucker | 40 | 25.7 | 41.0 | 26.9 | 79.7 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 9.5 |
| Isaiah Thomas | 4 | 25.2 | 30.8 | 22.7 | 72.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 9.2 |
| Rescue Doumbouya | 2 | 8.2 | 62.5 | 50.0 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 7.0 |
| Stanley Johnson | 22 | 22.4 | 48.7 | 32.0 | 67.7 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 6.7 |
| Avery Bradley | 48 | 23.7 | 41.0 | 37.6 | 85.7 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 6.6 |
| Wayne Ellington | 34 | 19.3 | 39.9 | 39.2 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| Austin Reaves | 37 | 21.1 | 47.1 | 32.2 | 82.4 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 5.9 |
| Dwight Howard | 41 | 14.5 | 62.1 | 66.7 | 61.2 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 5.2 |
| Trevor Ariza | 18 | 19.5 | 36.2 | 33.3 | 70.0 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 4.2 |
| Deandre Jordan | 31 | 12.9 | 67.0 | 0.0 | 48.0 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| Kent Bazemore | 31 | 14.7 | 32.8 | 35.4 | 76.5 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 3.7 |
| Rondo region | 18 | 16.1 | 32.4 | 26.7 | 50.0 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| Mason Jones | 2 | 4.4 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Jemerrio Jones | 2 | 7.4 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Darren Collison | 3 | 12.4 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Chaundee Brown | 2 | 10.3 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Jay Huff | 4 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
