Los Angeles Lakers: Rob Pelinka accomplished his trade deadline goals

What a wild week in the NBA as most contending teams escalated the arms race!

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka watched as all other competitors stocked their roster with additional players, many of whom the Lakers coveted.

Blake Griffin, PJ Tucker, Trevor Ariza, Aaron Gordon, Victor Oladipo, LaMarcus Aldridge, Evan Fournier, George Hill, Norman Powell, Nemanja Bjelica, Matt Thomas and former Lakers Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee all went to rivals with title hopes.

Meanwhile, Pelinka had two goals:

a)   Make at least one move that would help the Lakers defend their title, especially on the offensive end of the court.

b)   Avoid sacrificing the team’s ability to continue to contend in the next few years by giving up too much in return.

How well did he accomplish those aims?

1. The Los Angeles Lakers signing Andre Drummond

Pelinka patiently waited until Drummond, a double-double machine, reached a buyout agreement with Cleveland. Then he signed the 6-10 center, who typically ranks among the league leaders in rebounding and blocked shots, as a free agent for the rest of this season without having to surrender any assets other than money.

With both LeBron James and Anthony Davis out with injuries, the Lakers’ offense has sputtered. That’s the biggest reason for the team’s interest in Drummond, a two-time All-Star and a good low-post scorer who has averaged between 13 and 18 points per game for the past eight years. He’s also become a better passer out of double teams in recent seasons.

Inexplicably, although he rarely shoots beyond five feet from the basket, the nine-year veteran has compiled a surprisingly low field goal percentage of just 47.4% this season. That seems like an aberration since for his career he shoots a much better 54%.

Acquiring Drummond, age 27, wasn’t as easy as it sounds now. There was always a chance the Cavs would find a trading partner for him even though he was earning $28.7 million this season. And if they did end up releasing him, the Lakers would face plenty of competition to sign him from teams like the Celtics, Heat and Knicks.

The hope is that he will provide the help needed to hold onto a decent playoff spot until the cavalry returns in the form of LBJ and AD. Preferably the Lakers remain in the top four spots in the standings.

But adjustments will have to be made. Coach Frank Vogel must determine how to best deploy Drummond and the team’s two other centers, Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell. Can any two of them play together?

On offense, since Gasol is a three-point threat, the offensive spacing should be adequate with him and either of the others. But because both Drummond and Harrell are strongest offensively inside the paint, can they be effective without getting in each other’s way?

On the defensive side, none of the three are good perimeter defenders, so that presents potential match-up problems. Vogel will have to experiment to see what works best.

Further fine-tuning will be needed once LeBron and AD return to the lineup. It will take at least a little bit of time to get everyone aligned.

Drummond is a short-term addition. He will be a free agent once the season ends and it is highly unlikely that Pelinka can figure out a way to re-sign him.

In the meantime, the Lakers ability to successfully defend their title strongly depends on having their two returning stars return for the postseason. Drummond is as good if not better than any other player acquired by the competition. But even though he can help the effort it will take James and Davis at full strength for the Lakers to repeat.