Charlotte, North Carolina After defeating the Charlotte Hornets 124-118 on Monday to move to 27-25, the Los Angeles Lakers will now wait to see what happens to their team before Thursday’s trade deadline. This is the NBA equivalent of the teacher telling the class, “Pencils down,” because test time is over.
North Carolina’s Charlotte The Los Angeles Lakers, who moved to 27-25 after defeating the Charlotte Hornets 124-118 on Monday, will now have to wait and see what transpires with their team before Thursday’s trade deadline. The NBA’s version of the teacher telling the class to put down their pencils because test time is over is this.
If anything comes to pass, the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster might be very different when it plays the Denver Nuggets, the reigning NBA champions, on Thursday night.
L.A. is ranked ninth in the West after making it to the Western Conference finals the previous spring. With 30 games remaining, they would need to catch the No. 6 Phoenix Suns, who are currently three games ahead, in order to avoid the play-in round.
Jarred Vanderbilt, the Lakers’ best point-of-attack defender, was diagnosed with a right midfoot sprain on Monday. He will be out for three to four weeks before being evaluated again, and Gabe Vincent, their backup point guard, is still out with a knee injury despite playing just five games this season.
LeBron James was questioned about whether he thought the Lakers were good enough as is to win a championship or if changes would be wise in light of the team’s undeniable challenges and overall rankings of 20th in offense and 14th in defense.
James declared, “It’s not a question for me,” capping the road trip with 26 points on 12-for-22 shooting, including multiple game-winning rim-rattling dunks, in 40 minutes. “I adore the people in the changing area. And that’s my only concern.”
James went on, “No matter what, we’re going to go out and get ready every single night.” whoever is out for this team. Whatever the case may be.”
With 28 points and six assists to lead the team, D’Angelo Russell was the only Laker to outscore James on Monday.
Despite playing some of his best basketball of his career, Russell’s name has been brought up in trade discussions with the Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, and Atlanta Hawks in recent weeks, according to sources who spoke with ESPN.
Russell has averaged 22.2 points on 46.3% shooting (44.9% from three) with 2.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game over his last 16 games since returning from a broken tailbone. Russell’s team finished 10-6 during this time.
“I don’t give a damn. When questioned about how he would handle the rumors in the run-up to the deadline, Russell responded, “At all.” “Attend your job. That concludes it.
In response to a question about further details, the 27-year-old mentioned that his $17.3 million deal, which has a $18.7 million player option for the following season, as
Russell remarked, “I mean, I can’t control that my contract makes sense to be traded, either. “Well, just have fun. You have no power over that. I don’t care once more. Not at all.”
When Russell re-upped with the Lakers in the summer, he had the opportunity to avoid this circumstance. He and his agent waived the implied no-trade clause that would have been part of the contract by nature.
Russell was questioned about his decision to forfeit his right to veto any trade this season.
Russell remarked, “I just thought it made sense.” “I played for the Lakers in the past, so I’ve obviously been here before and am aware of the prerequisites for success here. Consequently, if you’re a part of this future, you’ll
I don’t really care because, for starters, I know I have no control over it. Secondly, I simply refuse to let my thoughts wander there. I prefer to concentrate on this, as you can see by the fact that I’ve been paying more attention to basketball than to social media trends and comments.”
This season, Russell and James’ play hasn’t always clicked flawlessly, but their responses in Charlotte were undoubtedly on point.
The players’ job is to do their jobs, business as usual, until something happens.
James said, “This is who we have.” “There’s nothing more to discuss, then.”
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