NBA Christmas: A gift for each team’s wish list in 2018

Los Angeles Lakers: A quiet trade deadline

The Los Angeles Lakers don’t have a championship-caliber roster right now, so yeah, trading for Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard or another “Future Laker” would be great. The thing is … isn’t this what was expected? This roster wasn’t supposed to challenge for the crown in year one, and making a hasty trade to speed that process along would just result in a loss of young talent.

If Magic Johnson can turn an expiring contract like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope into something neat, or AD suddenly becomes available, then sure, go for it. Other than that though, guys like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and even Josh Hart should be nowhere near the trade block.

It’s only natural to want to avoid wasting a year of LeBron James’ prime. He’s about to turn 34 years old, and even a cyborg like the King will break down at some point. With that being said, he knew what he was signing on for, and too often we’ve seen LeBron teams make panic moves that backfire, feeling the pressure of trying to appease the best player in basketball. Even for the NBA’s premier organization with the league’s best player, free agency is still where this team should set its sights for a game-changing move.