The Los Angeles Lakers may be settled on the team they will bring into the 2025-26 season, but before the NBA trade deadline comes to pass, they should be all but guaranteed to make a significant upgrade to the rotation. That will be necessary to keep up with the juggernauts of the West.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Houston Rockets all project to be serious contenders. Past that, even teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, and Minnesota Timberwolves should not be completely overlooked.
A team led by Luka Doncic and LeBron James will certainly be in the mix with anybody. That does not mean Rob Pelinka should ignore the obvious need to continue improving the roster around them. Jovan Buha thought there was an obvious outline for what a deadline deal looks like for the Lakers.
"They're one move away," Buha stated. "Ideally, [it's] some sort of consolidation move that improves the top seven or eight of the rotation. Even if the spots 10 through 12 get a little bit worse, I'd rather have a better top eight."
Lakers' trade deadline plan is impossible to miss
Buha highlighted that an extra move would really allow the Lakers to catapult themselves into the top two or three. The light schedule to start was brought up as an excellent reason as to why the Lakers can comfortably stay afloat in the top six until then.
Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber stood out as the obvious candidates to Buha for a move that brings a better player to Los Angeles for the top seven spots in the rotation. That would allow a few of the Lakers' pieces to slot down further in the rotation, falling into a more comfortable spot for everyone.
This idea brought forward by Buha is basically what Lakers fans have already been asking for. It just comes with a delay in time that the some have not been willing to offer.
The Lakers will not be making another veteran minimum signing this offseason barring a deal to offload a player, or two, in the near future. There has been little to suggest the latter will be happening.
These trades will be reserved for the regular season, with good reason. For one, the Lakers can afford the patience, even if the roster is still imperfect. More importantly, capitalizing on the shortcomings of those around them once the new campaign starts is the opportunistic approach that should ultimately lead to the best use of what the Lakers can trade.