Lakers Insider: LA Doesn't 'Want to Lose a Trade' amid Rumors Ahead of NBA Deadline

The Los Angeles Lakers' more risk-averse approach to trades right now applies in more ways than one, according to the Los Angeles Times' Dan Woike.

General manager Rob Pelinka has long maintained he wants a deal to make sense if L.A. is going to part with its best long-term assets. Appearing on the newest episode of the Buha's Block podcast with The Athletic's Jovan Buha, Woike laid out how the Lakers also "don't want to lose a trade."

"And I don't think anybody really wants to lose a trade," he said. "But like, take a look at what like Phoenix just did. ... [The Lakers] could do that trade twice if they wanted to. They could wake up tomorrow with six first-round picks, and people would see that and be like, 'Oh my god. They have six first-round picks. We can do anything.' No.

"There is a reason why Utah did that. It is like a payday loan; it is a cash loan. Those picks are not good picks, generally speaking."

Pointing to the Lakers, Woike said their first-rounders are "really valuable" and should be leveraged for something of equal or more value.

The Phoenix Suns, by contrast, just traded their unprotected 2031 first-rounder to the Utah Jazz for three first-round picks that will all likely convey in the mid-to-late stages of the first round. Collectively, those picks project to be worth less than what the Suns already had.

Pelinka would probably get raked over the coals if he makes that trade because critics would rightfully argue he has weakened the Lakers' hand in any future trades. Plus, the whole point of Los Angeles holding onto its best picks is that it will have a way to rebuild in a post-LeBron James and Anthony Davis future.

More than anything, Woike's remarks reinforce how Lakers fans probably shouldn't expect anything big to happen between now and the Feb. 6 trade deadline.