After a rough first half, the Los Angeles Lakers battled back in the second half of their contest against the Los Angeles Clippers, but were ultimately unable to get over the hump in their eight-point loss. Luka Doncic was outstanding and LeBron James had a strong performance as well, but it wasn’t enough as some of the role players struggled.
This has been a concern for the Lakers all season long, in particular with their reserve unit as the Lakers have one of the lowest scoring benches in the league. Additionally, their struggles with perimeter defense have led many to anticipate the front office making a deal with the trade deadline approaching.
LeBron was asked about this following the Clippers loss and whether the Lakers had enough on the roster to reach the next level and compete with the top teams. But the Lakers superstar refused to comment on the roster, deeming it disrespectful to the team to do so, while simply noting that they haven’t had a full roster all season long, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We’re missing our All-Star two-guard. We haven’t been whole pretty much all year. We’re starting to get a little rhythm, but we haven’t had a full roster all year pretty much. Our All-Star two-guard has been out, we’re hopeful to get him back soon, I seen another report that possibly he may come back during the trip… It’s disrespectful to these guys if I start talking about the deadline and what we need to do, we gotta get better, whatever the case may be. I try not to play fantasy basketball too much.”
James isn’t wrong in that commenting on what this Lakers team needs to improve the roster will be viewed as a shot against his current teammates. All LeBron and the rest of the Lakers can worry about is getting better within themselves and, of course, getting healthy.
Getting Reaves back will definitely give this team a much-needed boost and if the front office is able to swing a deal before the trade deadline then so be it. But until that time comes, the focus for LeBron and the rest of the team is simply on who is in the locker room.
Lakers’ Marcus Smart discusses difficulties for players around trade deadline
The weeks leading into the NBA trade deadline are an extremely nerve-wracking time for many players, which surely played into James not wanting to comment on the Lakers roster. As a veteran who has dealt with being in trade rumors, Marcus Smart recently discussed the difficulties for players at this time of the season.
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