With less than 24 hours left until the 2022 NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers have not yet made any moves, and the rumored swaps between Russell Westbrook and John Wall have not happened. But the Lakers, who are currently only 26-29, must make a difference, and they have put Tarren Horton-Tucker openly on the trade market, but the 21-year-old is reportedly generally considered by other teams in the league to be extremely low value for money, even negative assets, so it has not attracted much real attention.
The Lakers lack valuable deal assets, making it difficult to strike a meaningful deal, and they may have to rely on their existing rosters to hit the playoffs. Unless the Lakers can put the Westbrook and Wall swap deal into reality in less than a day. If Rob Pelinka can do that, and if Wall happens to be the right person, lakers fans may forgive him for his stupid decision to trade Westbrook.
After the Lakers' 116-131 crush on Wednesday to the Milwaukee Bucks, LeBron James responded to Lakers fans who have been full of negativity throughout the season, acknowledging that the Lakers and Bucks are not on the same level, and the Bucks won the championship last year. Winning or losing a game may not affect the big picture, but if the regular season ends today, the Lakers may not be able to pass the test of the playoffs, and if the Lakers do not have the confidence to beat Alphabet Brother and bucks, I believe that they will not be able to do anything even if they enter the playoffs.
If the Lakers haven't completely given up on this season, they must take major measures, and with future first-round picks as the core, whether it is a trade to Jerami Grant, or Josh Richardson, it will not make this team a strong team at once. For the Lakers, any transaction with substantial effect needs to be centered on Wei Shao, who has experienced a long downturn and has no hope of getting better, and he is even more harmful to the Lakers than it is to help them. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel is clearly aware of that, which is why Westbrook sat on the bench in the final 15 minutes of the game against the Bucks, a deal that was supposed to be one of the greatest in history, has actually turned into the worst deal. But even if Wei Shao is so bad, can he dare to say that Wall is more suitable for the Lakers than him? It is not unreasonable for many people on the outside to be skeptical, especially after the team has already endured the pain of Westbrook.
Wall hasn't played a game for the Rockets since the Rockets lost 104-109 to the Clippers on April 24 last year, when wall scored 27 points (9-of-22) and 13 assists, averaging 20.6 points and 6.9 assists in 40 games last season and shooting 40.4 percent from the field. At the beginning of the season, the Rockets agreed to break up peacefully with Wall, promising to find a new home for the five-time All-Star, but like Westbrook, Wall's contract made his trade extremely difficult. His annual salary is $44.3 million this season and $47.4 million next season, which is a bit of a frighteningly high for a veteran who has experienced quite a few injuries. So if Pelinka wants to trade Wall, then he must be playing with fire, but then again, the Lakers do need a large-scale adjustment, and Westbrook can only change Wall alone.
If Westbrook returns to Houston, the Rockets will most likely buy out his contract, at which point Westbrook will return to free agency. The biggest concern is whether he can return to the Washington Wizards in 2020-21. If that's the case, then the Lakers' deal with him in the first place would have never happened, but the question is whether the Lakers have become desperate enough to believe Wall?