Lakers Takeaways from 2024 NBA Trade Deadline 1 Week Later

At times, it seemed like only a productive NBA trade deadline would allow the Los Angeles Lakers to salvage their season.

Well, they didn't make a single deadline deal—and they might be in decent shape anyway.

The hope, obviously, is for something far greater than decent, but perhaps the Purple and Gold are setting the foundation now for much better days ahead. To get a grasp of exactly where this team is at, let's run through three post-deadline takeaways.

The Right Move Wasn't Available

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ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 30: Dejounte Murray #5 of the Atlanta Hawks handles the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Laker on January 30, 2024 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

If the Lakers were active at the deadline, they needed to add a difference-maker—or the closest thing to that they could find in this market.

High-end talent simply wasn't available, and even the best players in this market weren't quite right for this club.

Dejounte Murray was a fun on-court fit in theory, but if a trade for him cost them Austin Reaves, it may have been a lateral move. Pooling their best non-Reaves assets for Kyle Kuzma wouldn't have moved the needle enough for that cost. An extra playmaker was somewhere on the wish list, but a ball-moving backup like Tyus Jones couldn't have made much of an impact. (Not to mention, they scratched that itch by adding Spencer Dinwiddie off the buyout market.)

Plus, none of these three players were moved, so who knows how much it would've cost for the Lakers to bring any onboard. They were among the players who could've made sense for L.A., but the conditions weren't right to make those trades happen.

The Puzzle Pieces May Have Finally Aligned

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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 30: D'Angelo Russell #1 and Head Coach Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers talk before the game against the Orlando Magic on October 30, 2023 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Lakers pretty obviously don't have an embarrassment-of-riches type of overloaded roster. They do, however, have two transcendent stars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis and at least a handful of helpful role players around them, so they are right to expect more than what they've seen so far: a 29-26 record entering Wednesday night that has them seeded ninth in the Western Conference.

Between that and a number of injury issues, coach Darvin Ham has continually had to rethink his approach and tinker with his lineups and rotations. The Lakers have trotted out 16 different starting lineups, but the one they've settled on of late may have solved the puzzle.

Five times now, Ham has opened the game with James, Davis, Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura on the floor. All five of those games were Lakers' wins, three of which were decided by double-digit points.

This look puts L.A.'s best players on the floor together. It gives this group a wealth of scoring and table-setting options on offense, plus size and versatility along the frontcourt on defense. The sample size isn't enormous, but that quintet has posted a dominant plus-9.5 net rating across 87 minutes so far, per NBA.com.

"I think, as you guys can see, it's smooth," Hachimura told reporters. "We already have a chemistry. I've been telling you guys about it since the playoffs last year. This lineup is really good for us."

The Star Search Starts This Summer

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ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 30: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks handles the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 30, 2024 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Lakers' hands were effectively tied at the deadline. They had just a single future first-round pick to dangle (2029) and didn't seem particularly interested in letting go of Reaves, their other marquee asset.

By dealing any deal until this offseason, L.A. has given itself more buying power. The Lakers will then have two additional first-round picks to offer (2031 and either 2024 or 2025), and they think that could be enough to help them add elite talent.

"Moving forward, the Lakers plan to use the three picks that they will have available this summer...to pursue a star via trade," The Athletic's Jovan Buha reported. "Three potential targets are Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young and Kyrie Irving, according to team and league sources."

Whether any of those three are actually obtainable is a discussion for a different day, but clearly the caliber of player L.A. could land this summer will be significantly better than any it could've gotten at the deadline. Standing pat is inherently unexciting, but sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make.