Lakers Rumors: Top Trade Gossip Approaching 2018 NBA Deadline

The NBA trade deadline is looming—on Thursday, Feb. 8, to be precise—which means the basketball landscape is about to shift. The question for the Los Angeles Lakers is how much of that shifting they'll participate in.

The Lakers currently sit at 21-31, though they've won two straight and six of their last 10, including an inspiring 108-104 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. They've been without the services of Lonzo Ball, who is dealing with an MCL sprain. 

They're a young team unlikely to sneak into the Western Conference postseason mix, but their emerging nucleus appears to be coalescing. 

That said, as ESPN.com's Ohm Youngmisuk noted, "It's a good bet that [president of basketball operations] Magic Johnson's and [general manager] Rob Pelinka's cellphones will be ringing more and more as the trade deadline gets closer."

The Lakers' focus is on clearing salary-cap space so they can pursue high-profile free agents next offseason, including the likes of Paul George and LeBron James.

As NBA Central (via Lakers Nation) noted, big man Julius Randle has drawn interest from the Dallas Mavericks, with Los Angeles seeking draft compensation and expiring deals in return:

Randle is set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason, so if the Lakers don't intend to retain his services, it makes sense for them to dangle him now and get value in return.

As Michael Scotto of The Athletic reported, the New Orleans Pelicans made separate trade offers for Randle and guard Jordan Clarkson.

That said, the Pelicans sent one of the pieces reportedly dangled in those deals, Omer Asik, to the Chicago Bulls in the Nikola Mirotic trade, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, and that deal appears dormant if not dead. 

A more realistic trade partner for Clarkson could be the Cleveland Cavaliers, who need to bolster their guard rotation and have expressed interest, per Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net:

It's unclear if the Cavs could offer the Lakers the salary relief they covet, but an offer of their first-round pick could be enough to move the needle.

Los Angeles would also love to unload Luol Deng, who is owed $18 million next season and $18.8 million in the 2019-20 campaign, via Spotrac. But that's a fantasy, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

"You talk to teams around the league, no one is bailing the Lakers out with Deng's contract. They're not," Wojnarowski told the Full Court Press show (h/t Lakers Outsiders). "Teams have asked for multiple first-round picks. They've asked for Brandon Ingram. They'll ask for Kyle Kuzma."

That's surely not happening. Will another deal emerge that adds picks for Los Angeles and sets them up to spend big in the offseason?

We eagerly await the answer.