Lakers Trade Rumors: Why they’ll lose at the trade deadline regardless

With all of the Lakers trade rumors out there, let’s put to rest the idea that any trade they can realistically make right now will actually make them better.

It’s always best to be honest, right?

The Los Angeles Lakers have had an up and down type of season so far, and the noise at the trade deadline isn’t going to help clear anything up. Take either the drama with the continually provocative comments by LaVar Ball, or the incredibly delayed response by the front office to back their head coach, or the bizarre trade scenarios that have been floating in space for about a year now and you’ll catch up to where this team is rather quickly.

While this could’ve definitely happened to any team, drama seems to be what gives the Lakers the fluff with their latest core of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma. With the great play thus far from Kuzma, mixed with the chemistry he can provide alongside Lonzo Ball, the hopes for Julius Randle being a piece to the puzzle for very much longer are practically dashed.

He won’t be a starter, because he’s not better than Kuzma, and he’s unwilling to accept a bench role without grumbling about it.

Then, we have the curious case of KCP. Either the Lakers could trade the shooting guard that probably won’t be here long term and was overpaid on a one year deal in the first place, or they’ll bite the bullet and act like it’s okay.

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Why? Because they’ve done it already with how they’ve handled Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.

Ignore, for a second, how good or bad you might think Clarkson and Randle are personally. The fact of the matter is that the Lakers have managed to dance around trade conversations for so long, that Clarkson has given his consent to a deal happening sooner than later.

Los Angeles won’t find players better than these guys as a result of dealing at the deadline, and that also will be the case since they’re so invested, or so they say, on the summer coming up with targets like Paul George readily available to talk to.

Magic Johnson is so locked into that part of the year that any deal he makes at the deadline is something that I’m concerned about. And frankly, if it weren’t for Kyle Kuzma being a great addition as a result of the D’Angelo Russell trade, we’d have a big enough mishap on our hands already before the regular season was even halfway over.

The biggest discussion that’s really made any major headlines was the reported talks between LA and Dallas for a Nerlens Noel and Julius Randle swap. Unless Noel snaps out of his poor play over the last few seasons, the Lakers aren’t going to really get any value back from dealing their once-star power forward.

What comes with Randle to another team is a lot of attitude, and it’s more likely than not that not many teams are going to really want that kind of mentality on their team.

Unless you’re Dallas, apparently.

KCP has off the court issues that he’s been dealing with, which isn’t going to make him as attractive of an asset, and Jordan Clarkson comes with more hype than he probably should because there’s people out there that rightfully feel bad for how the organization has treated the second unit star as of late.

Next: 3 Much-Needed Roster Moves For The Lakers

With that being said, any way you really cut this, the Lakers are not going to come out a better team if they really try and pull the trigger on something before or at the trade deadline on Feb. 8.