The NBA trade deadline gave the Lakers nothing to be excited about. Mitch Kupchak didn’t make any moves and the Lakers play the Brooklyn Nets tonight at Staples with the same roster in place. Some fans weren’t very pleased with the Lakers’ inactivity at the trade deadline, especially after really struggling this season.
Today, Mitch Kupchak spoke to the media regarding the trade deadline and what is going to happen moving forward. According to Bill Oram of the OC Register, the Lakers were active leading up to the deadline, but nothing materialized:
On deadline day, GM Mitch Kupchak says, Lakers were "ready to do a couple things if it progressed. But it did not."
— Bill Oram (@billoram) February 20, 2015
At the very least fans can be hopeful that Kupchak was working to improve this team, but the time was not right. The Lakers had several targets out there, but they weren’t going to make a move out of desperation. You have to give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt, but the fan base’s patience is wearing thin.
Kupchak stressed that he has a plan in place to make the Lakers once again a contender. According to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News, Kupchak’s focus is having financial flexibility and the NBA Draft:
Mitch Kupchak said "there was some activity" leading into trade deadline. But reiterated he wants to keep financial flexibility/draft picks
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) February 20, 2015
In the past, the salary cap wasn’t an issue for the Lakers, but with the new CBA in place, they have to be very careful they spend their money wisely. After drafting Julius Randle, the Lakers are looking to add a few more players through the draft. Those players are on rookie contracts, making them much more affordable.
Laker fans can only hope they can find their next franchise player in the draft, because free agency has not been kind to them as of late. Something needs to happen, these last two years have been extremely difficult to watch and the fan base needs something to cheer about.
Kupchak sounds confident about his plan in place, hopefully it comes to fruition soon.
Next: Lakers Roundtable: NBA Trade Deadline Reactions
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