Two seasons ago, the Los Angeles Lakers’ last game played before the deadline felt like a referendum on the state of the franchise – a 42-point loss to the Indiana Pacers while rumors circulated. Tuesday’s 128-111 road loss for the New Orleans Pelicans was not that for the Lakers, they are still the defending NBA champion, but the anxiety that flowed from it was terribly reminiscent.
“You have to be realistic,” Kyle Kuzma said afterwards. He is the leader speaker spokesman. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both out due to injuries. “It’s a challenge. But it’s not something we can overcome.”
The Pelicans’ game went ugly, with the Lakers trailing by as many as 30 points – coincidentally coinciding with the number of points they won in the paint (62-32) – while without their best defender in Davis . and their starting center, Marc Gasol, who missed his ninth consecutive game when he turned up after a twist in the COVID-19 protocol for health and safety in the league.
When the Lakers series in Indiana reached a low point in 2019, the tension stemmed from the pursuit of Davis, with LA’s young collection of budding stars wondering if the sun would set in the beginning of their career in Southern California. .
These Lakers are not in an identical situation. Some of the young players from two years ago were on the other side on Tuesday, with Brandon Ingram scoring the best scorers with 36 points on 14-for-21 shooting, and Josh Hart stealing 15 rebounds, five assists and five, even though he shot. only 1-for-9. (Their anxiety about the February 2019 deadline was not unfounded – the Davis trade with the Pelicans went through four months later).
No, the Lakers are not looking for wholesale adjustments to get a second star to match James this time around. They have their franchise pillars, even though one is in a walking boot and the other has not played since Valentine’s Day.
However, there is still pressure to improve around the sidelines and boost their championship chances in the post-season. For much of the season, it looked like it would include the buyout market for an impact veteran or two, just as LA added Markieff Morris last year, and he became an important piece during their run in the bubble.
But now, on a three-game losing streak, the Lakers’ record stood at 7-10 as Davis was injured and dropped to No. 4 in the West Conference standings – just 2 matches at No. 6 in Portland – those plans could be adjusted.
“I think it will definitely have an effect on what our attitude is, but the deadline for the trade period,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said at the weekend when asked about the state of his team.
One name mentioned as a potential candidate to move is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The shooter was rewarded with a $ 40 million deal that played out for three years during a post-season in which he averaged 10.7 points on 37.8% of the three-point distance, while one of the most reliable defenders were what the Lakers had, but he saw it. The 3-point percentage drop this season from 52.9% in December, to 46.0% in January to 32.1% in February, until returning to 37.5% this month ahead of Tuesday’s 1-for-7 shooting night . When asked about where he is, he was honest.
“I do not know who everyone is in the trade conversation, I did not really care about it and did not even hear anything about it,” he said. “It was my first time hearing it. But I do not know … Man, I feel the energy is good, I think no one is worried about any trade unless they keep it personal.”
The Lakers definitely keep things personal. While it has become fashionable for some of the league’s executives to convey trading intentions to the media as a kind of test balloon to determine a player’s value, the rumors you will read this week do not come from Lakers. ‘s vice president of basketball operations. and general manager Rob Pelinka’s office in El Segundo, California.
This is a different way things are different from two years ago, when the Lakers were complicit in the chaos that took place until the deadline with the information they passed on.
No, it’s not the Lakers ‘fault that they only had an absence of 71 days, and the quick turnaround could have contributed to Davis’ right leg injuries. They had no control over Solomon Hill diving onto James’ ankle to try and steal the ball. They could not know how their status as favorites would be so short-lived, with a former MVP in James Harden having to force him out of Houston to join a few other offensive maestroes in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets , which dropped the chance on Brooklyn. as claimants. They could not choose the place in the schedule when James would go out, and in twelve days struck in a torturous piece of eight games.
However, this is the reality. This is where things stand, and therefore this moment, less than 48 hours before Thursday’s deadline, has the same feeling for the Lakers as it did two days before the deadline two years ago.
There is a lot at stake.
“My expectation is that we will win matches with this group, and I believe in the group we have,” Vogel said. ‘If nothing happens [at the trade deadline], we are going to win games and we will find a way to win games during this period, and that will benefit us in the long run. I’m not sure we will see any changes. … Most trade deadlines are many conversations that result in nothing, and that is my expectation as a coach. ‘
For Kuzma, one of the only persecutors, along with Alex Caruso, who stayed with the young core a few years ago, lessons may have been learned.
No matter what happens on the deadline, there is work to be done.
“I think we should just look at the drawing board, keep trusting each other and try to play for each other on both sides of the ball,” Kuzma said. ‘I think if we can do that, we give ourselves a chance every night.
“This is the challenge we face. We just have to tie it up and go. ‘