LeBron James and Anthony Davis‘ public comments and their reported level of concern about their current roster have little to no effect on the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps, the Lakers have not changed their approach to the NBA trade deadline despite the pressure from their stars.
“The Lakers’ recent discussions with teams show little sign of aggression, sources say, and those actions speak to their concern level about their stars at the moment. The Lakers have shown a reticence to put their future first-round picks into trades in recent seasons, and there’s no indication that position has shifted,” Windhorst and Bontemps reported on January 24.
It’s not the reaction James and Davis were hoping for when they directly expressed their concerns.
After their 116-102 blowout loss to their crosstown rivals Clippers on January 19, James pointed out the limitations of this iteration of the Lakers team.
“Nah. That’s how our team is constructed,” James told reporters. “We don’t have room for error — for much error.”
“We don’t have a choice,” he bluntly continued. “That’s the way our team is constructed and we have to. We have to play close to perfect basketball.”
A few days later, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on January 22 that James and Davis are “growing concerned” with the Lakers’ ability to improve by the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
“James, a four-time champion, and Davis, a one-time champ, have expressed that they want the franchise to make moves to contend for a championship, with the co-stars believing the Lakers are potentially a piece or two away, sources said,” Charania wrote.
Anthony Davis Wants a Center Next to Him
Davis was more direct on what he wants the Lakers to do when he sat down with Charania before the Lakers trounced the weary defending champions Boston Celtics 117-96 on Thursday, January 23.
“I think we need another big,” Davis told Charania. “I feel like I’ve always been at my best when I’ve been the 4, having a big out there. We know it worked when we won a championship with JaVale [McGee] and Dwight [Howard] at the 5 and I’m at the 4.”
Davis enjoyed his best season with the Lakers during that championship run, finishing sixth in the MVP voting and second in the Defensive Player of the Year race. McGee was the Lakers’ starting center in 68 games during the regular season and 11 games in the playoffs.
JJ Redick and Rob Pelinka’s Reactions
Lakers coach JJ Redick knew this when he got the job. He was upfront in the offseason that their top trade target was “a big bruising 5 man.”
So he wasn’t surprised by Davis’ comments.
“No reaction,” Redick told reporters when he was made aware of Davis’ public comment. “I mean, the reality is that’s not a new report. I got the job six months ago. So I know that. I’ve followed this team since I retired. Just put a date next to it, that’s the report. It’s not a big deal.
“Those guys wanna win, we wanna win. And again, it’s a challenging environment to just go out and make trades. Feel very fortunate that we’re able to execute and get someone like Dorian Finney-Smith on our team. And we’ll continue to look over the next couple of weeks.”
That rings true especially under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and with the Lakers already surrendering their biggest expiring contract (D’Angelo Russell’s $18.6 million) in the Finney-Smith trade.
Windhorst described these public comments from the Lakers stars on the “NBA Today” as a “coordinated effort to apply pressure to Rob Pelinka.” But as Windhorst noted, this has been happening over the last few seasons and as always the case, Pelinka “hasn’t yielded to this public pressure.”
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Lakers’ Response to LeBron James, Anthony Davis’ Concerns Revealed