Los Angeles Lakers: 4 bold predictions for the 2023 calendar year

The Los Angeles Lakers will stand pat at the NBA Trade Deadline

My first prediction for the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2023 calendar year is that they will end up standing pat at the NBA Trade Deadline. If the Lakers were going to make a season-saving move via trade, it was going to come either before the season even started or during the first few weeks of the regular season. That didn’t happen.

It would be highly irresponsible for the Lakers to make a big move now unless it is for a superstar. Right now, a superstar isn’t on the open market. So any big move that the Lakers would be making would be to get Russell Westbrook off their books or they would be making a move that would help them sneak into the playoffs (likely at the cost of a future first-round pick).

Quite frankly, that’s not what the Lakers should be pursuing. I fully expect the Lakers’ front office to come to that conclusion and smarten up before they compound one mistake with another.