Before entering the 2024-25 season, the Lakers were linked to several big name free agents in the summer. Ultimately. it led to a dull offseason and the team not making any significant moves. This has led to fans and analysts believing that they need to make a trade. However, even after the past two tough losses that the purple and gold have encountered, their record is 10-6 sitting at fourth in the conference. So this can lead to some skepticism as to whether or not the trade market is what the Lakers should look into.<\/p>\n
We saw the front office with the Los Angeles Lakers take a slower approach<\/a> this offseason. They had been in talks with several free agents like Jonas Valan\u010di\u016bnas <\/a>and Klay Thompson<\/a>. However, deals never came to fruition well. It has led to much of the same roster that they had the previous year. This might not be the issue. The Lakers hired a new head coach this offseason in JJ Redick<\/a> and are not facing any kind of immediate troubles. Giving the group time to settle in and develop chemistry under a new locker room leader makes sense. Especially, when they have Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a> and Christian Wood<\/a> still sidelined. Gabe Vincent<\/a> only played a handful of games with LA last year. So the Lakers should be wise before going out and making a drastic trade.<\/p>\n Jovan Buha of The Athletic has been following closely with LA and detailed<\/a> why they seem to not be in a rush to improve their roster.<\/p>\n “Based on the intel that has come out, it seems to be that this is going to be a situation that drags into January, if not closer to that February 6 trade deadline,\u201d Buha said. \u201cThe Lakers might have some incentive to make a trade sooner than later but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the team that they are trading with has that same incentive. And a lot of these teams again as I mentioned want to see 30, 35, 40 games with their groups to decide which players are keepers, which players are expendable.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This lack of urgency, or more rather patience, seems to be something general manager Rob Pelinka has been wanting. Don\u2019t force anything and see how the team prevails through the early part of the season.<\/p>\n Rob Pelinka, when asked about pursuing trades to turn the team into a contender, says "we believe in this group" but added that it will take 30 games or so to properly evaluate what the team has this season.<\/p>\n — Dave McMenamin (@mcten) September 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n