The Los Angeles Lakers are approaching the 2025 trade deadline with as much pressure to make a change as any franchise in the NBA. Los Angeles is on pace for a postseason appearance and appears to only be a few pieces away from truly contending.
Less than two years removed from reaching the 2023 Western Conference Finals, it's fair to believe that the Lakers have every reason to go all-in on the current core.
Unfortunately, it's much easier said than done to make the leap from postseason-caliber to being of championship quality. As such, Los Angeles has been presented with a question that it's running out of time to answer: Should it prioritize additional star power or improve the depth of the roster?
According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers are expected to focus more on what they can get with second-round draft picks than moving a future first-round selection.
"The sense around the league, when talking to rival scouts and front-office personnel, is that 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."
That may not be the flashiest of decisions, but it's a rational course of action that Lakers fans should be relieved to read.
Rob Pelinka and the Lakers are prioritizing depth over star power
Los Angeles would benefit, as any team would, from the arrival of an All-NBA level player at the trade deadline. Said talent would ideally complement Anthony Davis in both the short-term and the long-term, simultaneously operating as a teammate to and eventual replacement for LeBron James.
The Lakers would then be able to embark on a championship pursuit with a three-headed monster leading the charge—with Davis and James already title-winning teammates.
The unfortunate reality that Los Angeles is seemingly accepting, however, is that the options are scarce. It's easy to create a dream world in which superstar talents are just waiting to hear that the Lakers are calling for them, but most All-Stars are on pace for a postseason appearance.
There are some exceptions, including Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Brandon Ingram, Lauri Markkanen, Victor Wembanyama, and Zion Williamson, but there aren't many realistic targets in that group.
Curry, Embiid, and Wembanyama would be lifers if their contracts or franchises could decide their future. Ingram, Markkanen, and Williamson are intriguing options from a pure talent perspective, but there are concerns about opportunity cost and, in Williamson's case, extensive injuries.
Many have linked the Lakers to Zach LaVine and Trae Young, but the former has an unfriendly contract and the latter is on pace to skip the Play-In Tournament and reach the Playoffs directly.
Rather than grasping for straws and hoping that the player they give up first-round compensation for can deliver a title, the Lakers are prioritizing asset management. They're already due to be without first-round picks in 2025 and 2027, and know as well as any team how hard it is to fill out a rotation without rookie-scale contracts and promising talent to develop.
It may not be the most glamorous option available to the Lakers, but it's the most rational path forward for a team that must find a way to build for the now without sacrificing the future.