Mini 5er: Expecting a Quiet Deadline

Not really expecting the Lakers to make much noise. Not for lack of desire or need, far from it. We clearly have needs on both ends of the court. But there are built in and self-inflicted reasons why I expect there the deadline to come and go without much action on our end.

1) Not much grease for the wheels. 1first round pick 5+ years out when Luka will still be on the team and we ought to be contending isn’t really worth much. Packaged with other picks it’d be better but all in it’s lonesome it’s not a trade needle mover.

2) Lack of coveted young players. We’d be covering them if we had them. As it is it’s Reaves and then a loooong gap between Hachimura. Neither is really all that young, either. Nobody wants Knecht, even if someone did why pay now when you can simply wait until he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer when his option goes unclaimed? Their o has been underwhelming when he’s even available to play. This concludes the list of young assets.

3) Everyone had the same needs as we do but also have more to work with. The Lakers clearly have needs at the 1, 3, & 5. Guess what? So does the majority of the league! As such the competition for those players is steep. Based on our war chest, or lack thereof, it’s hard to see us beating offers from other interested teams.

4) Rob is inept. Old “Master Class” couldn’t shit or get off the pot I terms of making a move for DeAndre Hunter perfectly encapsulates the Rob Pelinka era as GM. He was savvy enough not to blow the Luka trade and after that his signature move was the Russ trade which really just hacked him out of his own mess he made. Hunter would have been a slight upgrade over Rui, IMO, but it’s even more of a bummer we couldn’t be in in the Ellis move. Some of this isn’t Rob’s Fault, per se, although he is the one who has traded first round picks for subpar players or players we simply let walk multiple times. It’s why I’m not too optimistic that Rob can be the GM we need during the Luka era.

5) Nobody wants to help the Lakers. We generally seem to overpay in these scenarios or don’t get invited to the party at all. That’s the way it is when you’re one on the most iconic brands on the planet.

All in all, if we can trade our unprotected FRP 5+ years out for a couple OKC picks (lightly protected) that would feel like a win. I hoping/expecting for a more exciting summer for us, anyhow, and adding fuel to that prospect seems savvy.