Mitch Kupchak says Lakers have "no intention" of trading Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard

When Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak put together this Lakers team over the Summer he was lauded as doing it once again. Steve Nash AND Dwight Howard in the same summer? Beautiful work, Mitch. However, things haven't gone smoothly for the Lakers, ranging from a wide variety of injury issues, coaching issues, and flat out bad basketball. Kupchak recently spoke with Long Island news network Newsday.com and revealed a bit about his thought process, the status of the current Lakers, and what he projects on the trade front.

"I think there's still time, but I wouldn't say there's plenty of time," Kupchak said recently from his office in Los Angeles. "I don't think anybody anticipated that we'd be in late January [four] games under .500. I don't think anybody expected for us to have the record today that we do." - Steven Marcus, Newsday.com

It's one of the few personal interviews from Kupchak of late, where he speaks on living and dying by each loss and being married to the job. Perhaps most importantly, though, Mitch said he doesn't foresee the Lakers trading any of their "principal" players, meaning Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol will be wearing purple and gold for the remainder of this season.

Asked about his remaining options to salvage this season, Kupchak said, "We will not make a trade. We will not trade Dwight Howard. We have no intention of making a trade. It's unlikely that we'll make any trade with any of our principal players. To make another change at this time of the year being behind the eight-ball like we are, I think that would just make it more difficult. The talent is there. We have to find our way." - Steven Marcus, Newsday.com

With the All-Star break just around the corner, and the trade deadline beginning to rise into the sky like the sun, there's still time for the Lakers to make a roster move. Los Angeles has stood pat with their roster despite a multitude of injures, and appears to be prepared to bunker down and "find [their] way". Of course, on the flip side, Kupchak obviously isn't going to say the Lakers are looking to trade any of their players, so there's that.

(A big tip of the hat to NetsDaily.com for finding this gem.)