LeBron James Will Be Disgusted by Latest Lakers Trade Report

The 2024-25 NBA trade deadline is rapidly approaching on Feb. 6, leaving the Los Angeles Lakers with less than three weeks to upgrade their roster. Although they're currently the Western Conference's No. 6 team, there's always room for improvement.

Lakers fans would love nothing more than to see general manager Rob Pelinka add a game-changing playmaker to suit up alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. All-Star-quality players like Jimmy Butler, Dejounte Murray, and Jonas Valanciunas have been linked to Los Angeles throughout the season, leaving time to tell if general manager Rob Pelinka can pull off a deal for one of them (or anyone else).

Unfortunately, though, it looks like Pelinka is planning to have a quiet deadline performance.

Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Won't Go All-In at Trade Deadline

The Athletic's Jovan Buha recently spoke to anonymous scouts and front-office sources around the NBA to get a better feel for the Lakers' deadline plans. As great as it would be to give James another game-changer to play with, Los Angeles is more likely to pull off a smaller trade or two rather than a major blockbuster.

"Standing pat or making a half-measure trade (likely one or two second-round picks) is more likely than the Lakers going all-in and trading both of their future first-round picks that can be moved," Buha wrote. "That’s dependent, of course, on the available players, asking prices, and the team’s performance through the deadline."

Assuming Buha's sources are correct, Lakers fans will likely be disappointed by this development.

After all, the 2024-25 season could potentially be James' last in the Association. The four-time NBA Champion just celebrated his 40th birthday in December and now that his game has noticeably taken a step back, he could decide to hang up his sneakers rather than risk a steeper decline next season.

In other words, there's no reason for the Lakers not to go "all-in" ahead of the trade deadline — especially now that it's been nearly five years since their last championship run.

As great as a huge deadline splash would be, Buha adds that the Lakers have too many glaring needs — backup center, better wings, another ball-handler, etc. — to focus on adding another superstar.

"There are potential trades that could check up to two of those boxes, but addressing all three needs is almost impossible without making two separate trades," Buha wrote. "And even then, there are several limiting factors, like the Lakers’ draft capital... and their underwhelming mid-sized salaries."

If the Lakers are out of a playoff spot before the deadline, some fans and experts have theorized the idea of moving either James or Davis to help kickstart a rebuild. It can be argued that L.A. needs a fresh start, however, any plans for a rebuild will be on hold for another year at least.

"The Lakers pride themselves on being a star-friendly franchise, and there have been no indications that James or Davis want to leave," the NBA insider said. "Trading them away, even to better situations from a contention standpoint, is against the organization’s ethos."

Barring any surprises, the Lakers will likely maintain the status quo at the trade deadline. Pelinka is clearly content with his current roster and likely won't do much tinkering beyond adding another role player or two.

Who knows? Perhaps Los Angeles can find some help once teams begin their post-deadline buyouts.

Without a telling desire to improve, the Lakers will head into the remainder of January tied for the 14th-best 2024-25 NBA Finals odds (+5000) on FanDuel Sportsbook.

More Los Angeles Lakers News and Rumors:

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.