LOS ANGELES — Not seeing any available players who would significantly improve their roster, the Lakers let Thursday’s NBA trade deadline pass without making a move. They might still tinker through other means.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka confirmed before Thursday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets that the team will possibly look to upgrade the roster through the buyout market. The Lakers have an open standard roster spot and can offer a prorated salary of the remainder ($1.9 million) of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception – more than most teams can offer – after using a chunk of it to sign guard Gabe Vincent last offseason.
“We really like the players on our team and we’re confident in this group of players,” Pelinka said. “And of course that said, our job, my job, is to always look for ways to upgrade our roster. But you can’t buy a house that’s not for sale. … Sometimes no move is better than an unwise move.”
Pelinka said that there is a “good group of names” available in the looming buyout market and the front office plans on being aggressive with its open roster spot, primarily looking for a ball-handling guard.
“We signed Gabe Vincent and thought he fit really well, but his health just hasn’t (been consistent),” Pelinka said. “He’s played five games. So, I think that would be sort of top of the list, and then best available after that.
“That would probably be the area we’re trying to address the most, just because right now we have D’Angelo Russell, who is a point guard, but after that we don’t have (another) point guard on the roster.”
The Lakers have been rumored to be interested in Spencer Dinwiddie, who was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. The Raptors reportedly are planning to waive the coveted point guard, who starred at Taft High in Woodland Hills.
In the meantime, the Lakers will continue to work toward securing a playoff spot with their current roster. Coach Darvin Ham and Pelinka both said they like how the roster is built and believe the current group can be better than its current 27-25 record.
“We’ve had our ups and downs certainly, but I’ve been saying it all year – we have all the confidence in the world with the players in our locker room,” Ham said. “So, we will continue to prepare for each and every opponent, try to get better every day, constantly look at ourselves and find ways we can get better and sustain things that are going well and keep pushing.”
Since they stood pat, the Lakers will have three tradable first-round draft picks during this offseason (beginning July 1) – compared to the lone pick one they had at their disposal ahead of Thursday’s deadline – in their expected pursuit of a high-caliber, All-Star-level player.
TREATMENT, NOT PROCEDURE
Ham further clarified his description of the process that Russell underwent the day before the trade deadline. He initially said Wednesday that the point guard had a “tune-up procedure” on Tuesday for an undisclosed injury, but later said it was a “treatment.”
On Thursday, Ham explained that Russell had an injection in his balky left knee. He did not play against the Nuggets.
“Well, I used the word ‘procedure’ and everybody loses their mind or whatever,” Ham said. “I think I meant to say ‘treatment.’ He had a little maintenance treatment that is normal, perfectly normal. It wasn’t a procedure.”
In other injury news, the Lakers are hopeful that Vincent (left knee) and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who is sidelined because of a sprained right foot, can be impactful players for them once they return.
