{"id":49011,"date":"2023-01-10T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=49011"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:11:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:11:18","slug":"the-pressure-is-on-for-the-los-angeles-lakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/01\/10\/the-pressure-is-on-for-the-los-angeles-lakers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pressure is on For the Los Angeles Lakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA world received a surprise Sunday morning after <\/span>LeBron James<\/b><\/a> sat down with The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Kings 136-134 to extend their winning streak to five.\u00a0 Amick touched on the lack of trades made, and James responded with a telling quote.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cY\u2019all know what the F*** should be happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

LeBron shared his thoughts on trading the 2027\/29 picks to Sam Amick after the Lakers beat the Kings. pic.twitter.com\/MlXUiAjZhe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Laker Central (@LakerCentral365) January 8, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

LeBron later clarified his statement on Twitter<\/a> and took issue with how Amick worded his article: “Hey Sam, actually, my patience isn\u2019t waning. You make it sound like I\u2019m frustrated when I\u2019m really not.”<\/p>\n

He added, “And I said what I said with the [utmost] respect and calmness ’cause that\u2019s the mood I\u2019m in!”<\/p>\n

The Pressure is on For the Los Angeles Lakers<\/h2>\n

The Lakers currently sit at 12th in the West with a 19-21 record. They are two games back of the fifth seed and inching close to Play-in territory.\u00a0 This is a marked improvement from a team that began the year 2-10.\u00a0 However, trade rumors have clouded the franchise for months on end.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the front office has been reluctant to make a move, this comment by one\u00a0<\/span>of their franchise players might be the impetus for one.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Latest Trade Rumors<\/h3>\n

The Lakers had their eyes on several players the summer, ones that fans believe would help the team out tremendously.\u00a0 One of the recent players to re-emerge as a target is Pacers big man <\/span>Myles Turner<\/b><\/a>, who has been the subject of trade talks for what has felt like an eternity.\u00a0 The latest development that <\/span>he has rebuffed extension offers from the Pacers<\/span><\/a> makes a trade seem more plausible as the days go on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turner, who is currently averaging 16.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.2 blocks per game, would alleviate several of LA\u2019s current woes.\u00a0 The Lakers are currently <\/span>22nd in defensive rating<\/span><\/a> (113.6) and <\/span>23rd in three-point percentage<\/span><\/a> (34.2%).\u00a0 Turner\u2019s aforementioned defensive prowess and his 38% shooting from deep this season would certainly patch those holes. His presence would also slide Anthony Davis<\/strong><\/a> to his natural power forward position.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though <\/span>Russell Westbrook<\/b><\/a> was a main focus in past trade rumors, his fascinating play off the bench has led <\/span>GM Rob Pelinka to explore other options<\/span><\/a>, particularly after <\/span>Davis went down with a foot injury.\u00a0 If that\u2019s still the case, there are avenues for success on that route.\u00a0 It\u2019s ultimately a matter of actions speaking louder than words.<\/span><\/p>\n

If it Ain\u2019t Broke, Why Fix it?<\/h3>\n

The team might be playing some of the best basketball we\u2019ve seen all season. Still, there are several deficiencies on the roster that one or two trades could address.<\/span><\/p>\n

Veteran guard <\/span>Patrick Beverley<\/b><\/a> has been relatively underwhelming this season, with averages of six points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game on 39-33-80 splits\u2013mostly as a starter.\u00a0 Moving him and his expiring $13 million contract would be critical for the front office.\u00a0 <\/span>Damian Jones<\/b><\/a>, who was brought in to be the backup center, has found himself out of the regular rotation with a minimal impact despite his status as a lob threat and rim protector.\u00a0 Then, there\u2019s <\/span>Kendrick Nunn<\/b><\/a>, who\u2013outside of his 23-point performance against Sacramento\u2013has looked like a shell of himself since returning from injury.\u00a0 And, of course, there are those 2027 and 2029 first-round picks that the front office has held onto for dear life\u2014hopefully until now.*<\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span>It\u2019s important to note that though the Lakers do have other first and second-round picks in upcoming drafts, <\/span><\/i>the \u201827 and \u201829 ones are the first ones that can be traded<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Everything might be looking good in La La Land right now, but don\u2019t let that new year’s success fool you.\u00a0 The Lakers still have a ways to go before they can legitimately compete for a playoff spot in the West, but these comments from their leader are a sign of things to come.\u00a0 Pressure makes diamonds, so let\u2019s see if the Lakers brass can shine bright.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NBA world received a surprise Sunday morning after LeBron James sat down with The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Kings 136-134 to extend their winning streak to five.\u00a0 Amick touched on the lack of trades made, and James responded with a telling quote.\u00a0 \u201cY\u2019all know what the F*** should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":47997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[38,494],"class_list":["post-49011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","tag-lebron-james","tag-patrick-beverley"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179391,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49011\/revisions\/179391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}