The Los Angeles Lakers were quiet at the trade deadline, can they still win a championship despite not making a move?
The trade deadline slowly and methodically approached for the Los Angeles Lakers. Finally, during the last few hours, before the NBA shut down all team-to-team transactions for the season, a closing flurry of activity took place across the association.
Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Purple and Gold brain trust sat idly by as their window to make a trade closed. At the same time, many of the Lakers’ fiercest rivals made deals to improve their rosters.
- The Los Angeles Clippers received Marcus Morris Sr.
- The Houston Rockets received Jordan Bell, who was later traded again and Robert Convington.
- The Denver Nuggets received Keita Bates-Diop, Gerald Green, Shabazz Napier, who was traded a second time and Noah Vonleh.
- The Philadelphia 76ers received Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III.
- The Miami Heat received Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder, and Solomon Hill.
Lakers fans aren’t worried about the minor changes that the Heat, Rockets, Nuggets, and 76ers made. The Lakers are still better than them. The 2020 championship was always going to come down to the Lakers, Clippers, and Bucks.
Do the Lakers have enough to beat the Clippers and emerge as the Western Conference champion?
Did the Lakers need to upgrade the roster to take down the Bucks and win their first chip in over a decade?
First, we’ll argue why the Lakers were right to stand pat at the trade deadline, and then we’ll say why Rob Pelinka should have made a trade. Finally, we’ll decide if the Lakers can still win a championship without upgrading the roster via trade.