At 11 a.m. PT, the Los Angeles Lakers still had time to strike a trade before the deadline. Then came 30 minutes. Then 10. Then five. Gone.
The Lakers made no roster changes despite sitting four games below .500 at 26-30. L.A. is also not a lock for the playoffs. The No. 9 seed grants L.A. a play-in tournament spot, but there’s no guarantee this Lakers roster is doing any real damage in the playoffs.
The last few weeks saw multiple players brought up in trade talks: Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kent Bazemore, Kendrick Nunn, DeAndre Jordan.
In the end, more than one team needs to agree on a deal. So even if the Lakers wanted to trade players, teams must’ve not valued their assets.
Instead, the buyout market is Los Angeles’ route.
No deal for the Lakers, source tells ESPN. THey'll focus on the buyout market.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022
But the Lakers will need to waive players and eat more salary to make that happen. Let’s see what’s in store.
