Lakers decide to stand pat, not make a move
Not seeing any available players that would significantly improve the roster, the Lakers let Thursday's trade deadline pass without making a move. That is, right now.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka confirmed before Thursday's game against the Denver Nuggets the team will possibly look to upgrade the roster in the buyout market. The Lakers have an open standard roster spot and can offer a prorated salary of the remainder ($1.9 million) of their nontaxpayer mid-level exception — more than most teams can offer — after using a chunk of it to sign guard Gabe Vincent this past offseason.
“We really like the players on our team and we're confident in this group of players,” Pelinka said. “And of course, that said, our job, my job is to always look for ways to upgrade our roster. But you can't buy a house that's not for sale . ... Sometimes no move is better than an unwise move.”
Pelinka said that there is a “good group of names” available in the looming buyout market and the front office plans on being aggressive with its open roster spot, primarily looking for a ball-handling guard.
“We signed Gabe Vincent and thought he fit really well, but his
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health just hasn't (been consistent),” Pelinka said. “He's played five games. So, I think that would be sort of top of the list, and then best available after that.
“That would probably be the area we're trying to address the most, just because right now we have D'Angelo Russell, who is a point guard, but after that we don't have (another) point guard on the roster.”
The Lakers have been rumored to be interested in Spencer Dinwiddie, who was traded Thursday by the Brooklyn Nets to the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors reportedly are planning to waive the coveted point guard.
In the meantime, the Lakers will continue to work toward securing a playoff spot with their current roster. Coach Darvin Ham and Pelinka both said they like how the roster is built and believe the current group can be better than its current record, which was 27-25 ahead of Thursday's game against the Denver Nuggets.
“We've had our ups and downs certainly, but I've been saying it all year — we have all the confidence in the world with the players in our locker room,” Ham said. “So, we will continue to prepare for each and every opponent, try to get better every day, constantly look at ourselves and find ways we can get better and sustain things that are going well and keep pushing.”
Since they stood pat, the Lakers will have three tradable first-round draft picks during this offseason (beginning July 1) — compared to the lone pick they had at their disposal ahead of Thursday's deadline — in their expected pursuit of a high-caliber, AllStar-level player.