NBA Trade Rumors: 5 teams that must make a move at the 2022 deadline
By Kyle McKee
NBA teams that need to make a trade: Los Angeles Lakers
The first team that comes to mind when thinking of a franchise that is in need of a shake-up is the Los Angeles Lakers, for obvious reasons.
Coming into the 2021-22 season, the Lakers were the prohibitive favorite to come out of the Western Conference and make the Finals. Fast forward to the present day and many are questioning whether or not the Lakers can win a playoff series, let alone a NBA championship.
Thirty-nine games into the season, almost halfway through, the Lakers are just one game above .500 with a record of 20-19. Currently, they sit as the sixth seed in the West, just one and a half games ahead of the ninth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
From Anthony Davis’ injury woes to dealing with players and coaches in health and safety protocols. From terrible free throw shooting to lineup instability. From a poor collective defensive effort and 3-point shooting to a lack of chemistry. From careless turnovers to Russell Westbrook. This Lakers team is nowhere near championship contention.
Now, I can already hear Lakers fans saying they don’t care about the regular season and that as long as they have a healthy LeBron James in the playoffs they will be fine which might end up being the case. But LeBron isn’t the key to the Lakers’ success, Anthony Davis is.
Over the Lakers’ last nine games, LeBron has scored over 30 points in eight of those games. At the ripe basketball age of 37, LeBron has barely shown any signs of slowing down. Yet, the Lakers are 4-5 in those games. LeBron is not enough anymore.
The most damning thing against this Lakers team is their strength of schedule. According to Power Rankings Guru, the Lakers have had the third easiest schedule in the league thus far, behind only the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks. For the remainder of the season, the Lakers have the fourth hardest schedule remaining.
To sum this all up, almost halfway through the season the Lakers are just one game above .500, having played the third easiest schedule in the NBA, and have the fourth hardest schedule remaining with LeBron still playing at an MVP level. That doesn’t bode well for a team with championship aspirations.
This Lakers team needs a major shake-up if they want any chance of competing against the likes of the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz. It’s highly unlikely that they could trade Westbrook given how he’s looked with the Lakers and given his hefty contract. It’ll be interesting to see what the Lakers decide to do at the trade deadline.
Will they keep the team as it is and hope LeBron, AD and company can turn it around or will this be reminiscent of the 2017-18 Lebron led Cavaliers that had a completely different roster after the trade deadline that season? Only time will tell.