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LikeDuring the NBA season and into the summer, Shams Charania's Inside Pass will tackle the news and transaction storylines that can shake up the league.
The Los Angeles Lakers (23-18) are sitting in a perilous position, currently just a game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for sixth in the West, and the guaranteed playoff spot that comes with it. Their two cornerstones -- the 40-year-old LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- continue to perform at elite levels, both almost certain to make another All-Star Game appearance next month in San Francisco.
But with the Feb. 6 trade deadline a little more than two weeks away, league sources told ESPN that James and Davis are growing concerned about the Lakers' ability to make significant roster upgrades with their two tradeable first-rounders. 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.
James and Lakers head coach J.J. Redick made some very telling comments after the team's road blowout loss to the LA Clippers on Sunday night.
"That's how our team is constructed, we don't have room for error," James said. "We don't have a choice. That's the way our team is constructed. We have to play close to perfect basketball."
The Lakers have been without Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood, both expected to be key members of the rotation, all season.
"It just goes back to not having a huge margin for error and I think our group is like, if one guy is gone from the rotation, there's an exponential effect to that," Redick said. "When we're healthy, we're whole and we're playing connected and we execute, I think we're a great basketball team."
Just recently, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry -- in a similar position as James in the twilight years of his career -- took a different approach, professing patience with the direction of his team. He has been in constant communication with Warriors leadership, and though Golden State has probed for another star to pair with Curry and Draymond Green, the bigger names who might be available have not appealed to all parties.
"Desperate trades or desperate moves that deplete the future, there is a responsibility on allowing or keeping the franchise in a good space and good spot when it comes to where we leave this thing when we're done," Curry said. "Doesn't mean that you're not trying to get better. It doesn't mean that you're not active in any type of search to, if you have an opportunity where a trade makes sense or even in the summer free agency makes sense. You want to continue to get better.
"Nobody wants to be stale or be in a situation where you're passing up opportunities. But it doesn't mean that you're desperate just flinging assets all around the place just because you want to do something."
The Lakers have done their due diligence in trade interest around the league, and are open to using their tradeable first-round picks for players who are a fit for this iteration of the Davis-James team as well as for several years to come under Redick, sources said. Los Angeles has already made one trade this season, sending D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. However, Finney-Smith is still working to find his rhythm, seeing his 3-point shooting drop from 43.5% to 36%, and Milton has essentially been out of the rotation over the past two weeks.
Still, the urgency remains for the Lakers, who won a championship in 2020 with James and Davis, but have won just two playoff series since (both in 2023). The Lakers currently have those two first-round picks (2029, 2031) and two second-round picks (2025, their own and the Clippers') available to be traded, in a league that is currently in the midst of its longest period of parity in decades.
"Boston, OKC and Cleveland are who they are," one high-ranking team official said in recent days. "But this is wide open."
L.A. has been in this position before in the James-Davis era. The Lakers were 27-25 heading into the deadline last season when the team failed to strike a deal, with Pelinka citing other organizations' disinterest by telling reporters, "You can't buy a house that's not for sale."
The Lakers also sat out the 2022 trade deadline, when the team was 26-30 in their first season with Russell Westbrook, and instead tapped into the waiver wire to try to give the team a boost down the stretch.
The Lakers' patience in 2022 paid off the following season, when Pelinka and the front office executed a series of moves -- including parting with Westbrook and his $46.3 million salary -- to remake the team. The new energy and additional talent acquired in Russell, Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura helped spark a run to the Western Conference finals, a remarkable turnaround for a team that started the season 2-10.
As talks accelerate over the next 15 days, the perception of a wide-open league provides tremendous motivation for some title and playoff contenders. Here are some other notable pieces to keep an eye on beyond the Lakers, starting with the latest on the situation between Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat.
Sources said the Heat have had productive talks with multiple teams on a Jimmy Butler trade -- conversations that received a boost when the Phoenix Suns acquired three first-round picks in a trade that sent their 2031 first-rounder to the Utah Jazz.
Butler requested a trade from the Heat earlier this month and, according to sources, has since reiterated the demand during in-person meetings with team president Pat Riley, owner Micky Arison and CEO Nick Arison. The Suns are atop his list of preferred destinations, sources added. A potential Butler deal would likely require 3-to-5-team constructs for Phoenix because the Heat have shown no interest in taking back Bradley Beal, who has two years and $111 million on his contract after this season.
For the Suns, moving their 2031 first-rounder now triples their pool of tradeable firsts from just one to three and unlocks the next six years of drafts. They're expected to be aggressive in upgrades for the roster between now and the trade deadline to elevate an under-performing team around Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
Sources said the Bulls have been receiving calls from teams on two key players: Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.
Rival executives have applauded a rejuvenated season from LaVine, who, in his 11th season, is shooting a career high overall (51.4%) and on 3s (45%) while averaging 24 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists. LaVine has impressed the Bulls with his professionalism and leadership, a year after both sides scanned the market for trade opportunities.
Vucevic, meanwhile, has also had a strong campaign, averaging 20.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The Warriors are among teams expressing interest in the 6-foot-10 center, sources said. At 34, Vucevic has shown he can age gracefully, particularly in a season where he is shooting career-highs as well: 55.4% from the field and 41.1% from 3.
After a 14-win season, the Pistons (22-21) are on the hunt for a postseason berth under new overseers of the organization - president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon and head coach JB Bickerstaff. Detroit has also gotten an All-Star caliber season from the face of the franchise, former No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham, who is averaging 24.5 points, 9.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game. Detroit, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2019 and hasn't won a playoff game since 2008, is 7th in the East, just a half-game back of the Atlanta Hawks for 6th.
Adding to the Pistons' good fortune, they also have the most cap space available in the NBA right now -- $14 million -- and are expected to be significant players to take in salary along with an asset or utilize the space for an upgrade ahead of the deadline.
The Grousbeck family is expecting four-to-five bidders for the sale of the Celtics, with a valuation exceeding $6 billion, sources said. The Celtics are expected to choose among two finalists in the first quarter of this year.
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