Lakers Expected to Wait Until After Thanksgiving to Pursue Trades

While the Lakers clearly have some work to do, and have been linked to several Russell Westbrook trades, it does not seem as if a deal of any sort is imminent.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Lakers are likely to continue to test out the current roster under first-year coach Darvin Ham, and avoiding doing anything rash.

“I’m told to expect (general manager) Rob Pelinka and the Lakers to wait until post-Thanksgiving,” Wojnarowski said, via RealGM. “Twenty games into the season and see what teams may start pivoting, who don’t start off well, who decide they may start to unload players and perhaps get involved in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes to get down in the lottery instead of as we saw in previous years teams chasing the play-in tournament. And see then using that 2027, that 2029 pick, and of course Russell Westbrook’s expiring contract to see what is going to be out there in the marketplace.

“And as more teams and more players become… and teams become sellers… There was so many buyers the last couple of years. The expectation is that there’s going to be more sellers this year. You start to see the asking price in trades to go down. It’s supply and demand. Expect the Lakers to get to that 20-game point where teams kind of reach an inflection point about how they want to proceed and then see what might really be available to improve this Lakers’ team.”

The Lakers have been linked to the Pacers and several others in rumored Westbrook trades, as we relayed. And this isn’t the first time Wojnarowski suggested they could wait on a Westbrook deal.

As for the current roster, LA still seems to lack the outside shooting that often is vital for a LeBron James-led team. James indicated as much himself, as we relayed here.