NBA Trade Rumors: The Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly are not interested in Zach LaVine.
Heading into the season, there was plenty of uncertainty surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers. Even after making a surprise run to the Western Conference finals last year, the Lakers still had plenty of holes on the roster that weren’t filled completely during the offseason.
And that continues to be an issue for the team through the first month of the season. However, with the growing belief that Zach LaVine could find his way to the trade block, there could be a unique opportunity for the Lakers to improve their roster via trade.
For some, a move for LaVine could be viewed as a potential final piece of a championship puzzle.
In theory, there’s a realistic path toward the Lakers acquiring LaVine. However, it appears that they may not be all that interested in that possibility. According to a recent report, the Lakers are more focused on “internal improvement” rather than making a move for LaVine.
Have the Los Angeles Lakers hit their stride?
Over the last couple of weeks, the Lakers have begun to hit their stride. They’ve won five of their last six games and have clearly been playing better of late. Over the next week or so, they do have an interesting collection of games that will test this theory.
Up next for the Lakers, after a tussle with the Utah Jazz Tuesday night, are the Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Philadelphia 76ers. How the Lakers look in those three games could tell us a lot about this team and whether they’ve truly found their footing or not.
Nevertheless, it is a good sign that the Lakers are at least keeping pace with some of the better teams in the Western Conference. At 8-6, the Lakers have gotten off to a much better start compared to last season.
At this point in the season last year, the Lakers were 5-10 and 14th in the West standings. I’m sure the Lakers will take where they are at right now. Especially considering they haven’t even begun to play their best brand of basketball yet.
The big question, though, is whether or not that means they don’t need to make a move for LaVine. He’s the one big-name player who seems like a realistic target at the moment for a team like the Lakers. If not LaVine, it’s hard to envision the Lakers finding a realistic path to another big splash. At least for now, Los Angeles seems perfectly content in passing on that option.