Two seasons ago, the last game the Los Angeles Lakers played before the trading deadline felt like a franchise referendum – a 42-point loss to the Indiana Pacers as rumors swirled. The 128-111 road loss Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans was not that for the Lakers, after all, they are the defending NBA champions, but the resulting anxiety was an extraordinary reminiscence.
“You have to be realistic,” Kyle Kuzma said afterwards, leaving the default player’s spokesman with LeBron James and Anthony Davis due to injuries. “It’s a challenge. But it’s nothing we can’t overcome.”
The Pelicans became ugly, with the Lakers scoring up to 30 points – which coincided with the number of points they were overtaken in the paint (62-32) – while they were without their best defender in the game. Davis and their starting center, Marc Gasol, who missed the ninth consecutive game while climbing after a stage in the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
When the 2019 Lakers dropped in Indiana, the tension came from the pursuit of the Davis team, with the young collection of budding stars from Los Angeles, wondering if the sun would set at the beginning of their career in Southern California.
These Lakers are not in the same situation. Some of these young players from two years ago were on the other side of things on Tuesday, with Brandon Ingram leading all scorers with 36 points on 14-for-21 shooting and Josh Hart scoring 15 rebounds, five assists and five steals. , even if he shot only 1-for-9. (Their anxiety about the February 2019 deadline was not unfounded – Davis’ trade in pelicans went through four months later).
No, the Lakers aren’t looking to make wholesale changes to get a second pairing star with James this time. They have their franchise pillars, although one is in a walking boot and the other has not been played since Valentine’s Day.
However, there is still pressure to improve around margins and increase their chances of a post-season championship. For most of the season, it looked like it would involve looking to buy the market for an impact veteran or two, just as LA Markieff Morris added last year and became a vital piece during their bubble development.
But now, with a three-game losing streak, bringing the Lakers record to 7-10 since Davis was injured and dropped to No. 4 in the Western Conference standings – just 2 ½ No. 6 games in Portland – those plans would could be adjusted.
“I think it will definitely have an impact on our mentality, it’s the deadline for trading,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said over the weekend when asked about his team’s condition.
One name mentioned as a potential candidate for relocation is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The goalkeeper was rewarded with a three-year, $ 40 million deal, which came out of a postseason that averaged 10.7 points on 37.8% from a distance of 3 points, while he was one of the most reliable perimeter defenders the Lakers had, but the 3-point percentage dropped this season from 52.9% in December to 46.0% in January to 32.1% in February, until returning to 37.5% this month before the night of shooting Tuesday 1 to 7. Asked about where he is, he was honest.
“I don’t know who is participating in the trade talks, I didn’t pay attention to him and I didn’t hear anything about it,” he said. “It was the first time I heard about it. But I don’t know … Man, I feel the energy is good, I don’t think anyone cares about a trade unless they keep it personally.”
The Lakers definitely keep things personal. Although it has become fashionable for some league executives to pass on commercial media intentions as a kind of test balloon to assess a player’s worth, virtually none of the rumors you’ll read this week come from the Lakers vice president of operations. basketball and the office of general manager Rob Pelinka of El Segundo, California.
This is another way of doing things different from two years ago, when the Lakers were complicit in the chaos that took place by the deadline with the information they were transmitting.
No, it’s not the Lakers ‘fault that they only had a 71-day off-season, and the quick change could have contributed to Davis’ injury to his right leg. They had no control over Solomon Hill’s dives on James’ ankle to try to steal the ball. They had no way of knowing their short-lived favorite status with a former MVP from James Harden forcing them to leave Houston to join a couple of other offensive masters from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. Nets, catapulting Brooklyn’s chances. as suitors. They didn’t get a place in the program when James came out, hitting him in a harrowing stretch of eight games in 12 days.
This is the reality. That’s where things are, and that’s why this moment, less than 48 hours before Thursday’s trading deadline, has the same feeling for the Lakers that it had two days before the deadline two years ago.
There is a lot at stake.
“My expectation is that we will win games with this group and I believe in the group we have,” Vogel said. “If nothing happens [at the trade deadline]We will win games and find a way to win games during this period and it will bring us long-term benefits. I’m not sure if we’ll see any changes. … Most commercial deadlines are a lot of discussions that result in nothing, and that’s my expectation as a coach. “
For Kuzma, one of the only remnants, along with Alex Caruso, who remained from that young core a few years ago, maybe there were a few lessons learned.
Whatever happens at the trading deadline, it is working.
“I think we just have to look at the drawing board, continue to trust each other, try to play with 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 get rid of it and leave.”