With a couple of weeks remaining until the Feb. 8 trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves in plenty of rumors. For a team that has a 39-year-old LeBron James, the search to improve the roster is a constant.
After winning the In-Season Tournament, the Lakers have struggled to find their footing as losing has been prevalent for nearly a month now. However, L.A. has picked up some impressive wins against the L.A. Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and now the Dallas Mavericks, which has gotten them back to .500 at 21-21.
Winning does cure-all, but during the downward spiral in December and the beginning of January, it was clear that this team needed a move or two. When contemplating trades, it should made in the interest of James and co-star Anthony Davis to make their jobs easier, but the all-time leading scorer is focused on the guys that are here now and not worried about any potential trades.
“I don’t play fantasy basketball. What I do is focus on the guys that’s here in this uniform and show up to work every day. It’s too disrespectful to be thinking about what we need or what we don’t have. I don’t do that to my teammates,” James said. “We’ve been putting in the work and that’s what we got to continue to do. We like the way we’ve been playing the last couple of games. We got to continue that Friday versus Brooklyn.”
While James has often been given the tag of being a ‘GM’ during the various stops of his career, he knows that the focus has to be on how he and his teammates can continue their winning ways. Especially with newfound success with a new starting lineup and consistent rotations, it is important to keep that consistency.
“I think the rotations have been pretty solid because Coach [Darvin Ham] knows who’s playing, who’s not playing,” he said. “So he’s able to, guys are logging minutes with lineups that they’re kind of trying to get a familiarity with. I think that definitely helps when you have our second guys come in, they’re ready to go right away. Max [Christie] has been giving us big minutes. C-Wood has been giving us big minutes. Rui [Hachimura] is giving us big minutes. We are going to need that so if they can continue that, it’s going to help our team out tremendously because we need it.”
The trade deadline can be a stressful time for those who are involved in rumors, but it is important to keep focus and not let it affect performance. For James as a leader, he is trying to keep the troops together and locked in on the present.
LeBron James believes ball movement & pace are keys for new starting lineup
Consistency has been missing for the Lakers all season long as whether it be new lineups or injuries, L.A. needed to pick a lineup and stick to it. When it comes to this new starting group, James believes ball movement and pace will be vital for success.
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