Maybe it was just time for the Lakers to clean house.
The pre-trade deadline Lakers seemed distracted, sour and dysfunctional, a top-heavy roster of mismatched parts, with Russell Westbrook often the eye of the storm.
The post-deadline Lakers, after one of the NBA’s more frenetic trading windows in some time? This could be fun.
They are younger. They are more complementary – an experienced but less headstrong point guard, outside shooting threats for a change, and a big-man upgrade (and additional protection for the next time Anthony Davis gets hurt).
For all of the criticism leveled at Lakers vice president and personnel boss Rob Pelinka over the last 2½ seasons, much of it deserved, give him his flowers today. He might not have made the uber-blockbuster deal that the fan base demanded, but this is an upgraded roster and one that could conceivably do damage going forward.
But was it too late to rescue this season?
Before Thursday night’s game with Milwaukee, the Lakers were two games out of the play-in zone and, incredibly, just 4½ games out of fourth place and home-court advantage in the first round after starting 2-10 and spending all season south of .500. Reaching at least the play-in is certainly doable over the final 26 games, but the rest of the Western Conference has gotten tougher, thanks to the big moves by Phoenix (adding Kevin Durant) and Dallas (acquiring Kyrie Irving).
The Lakers, meanwhile, dealt in volume. Their eventual projected starting lineup: D’Angelo Russell at point guard, Malik Beasley at shooting guard, LeBron James at small forward, Rui Hachimura at power forward, Davis at center.
Russell, the centerpiece of the three-team deal with Utah and Minnesota that sent Westbrook packing, returns to the Lakers as a more mature and more dependable player, averaging 17.9 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 39.1% from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Beasley is a career 38% 3-point shooter (and 35.9% this year). The Lakers needed shooters and…
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