Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, said the team's trades at the deadline were made to give the franchise flexibility in July.
Many of those attributes that Pelinka is hoping for out of Russell proved to be an elusive fit in the season and a half the Lakers had with Westbrook, a surefire Hall of Famer who never found his footing with L.A."Our aspirations when we did the Westbrook trade was it would lead to a championship, a contending team. We didn't meet that goal. So you have to then look to pivot if something is not working to correct it. I think this trade deadline, there was an opportunity there.
Now James, 38, is the only player aged 30 or older on the Lakers' 14-man roster. And only James, Davis, Vanderbilt andare under contract for next season, giving the Lakers flexibility to go a different direction this summer if their new acquisitions don't pan out the way they plan. "We're really pleased with where things landed," Pelinka said. "I think going into the trade deadline, really wanted to address shooting and spacing and more wing depth and size in general. To be on the other side of the trade deadline where we've added five core players that are 26 or under in age, starting with the trade we did for Rui. But if you look at Rui and D'Angelo and Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt, all guys that are 26 or under.
"You could really start to see a young core crystalizing that gives us optionality for the future, but also gives us an improved team now to finish our last 26 games with this season. To come out of that using a protected first-round pick, we're pleased." The Lakers held on to their 2029 first-round pick, although Pelinka confirmed that it was discussed in a potential deal. That deal, sources told ESPN, was with the
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