LeBron James says he has ‘no idea what to expect’ from NBA trade deadline

The March 25 NBA trade deadline is just a week away now, and while the Lakers have been connected to a bunch of names in rumors, there hasn’t been a whole lot of public traction on any deals for the team yet. And on Wednesday, two players they were said to be targeting — Trevor Ariza and P.J. Tucker — were moved elsewhere.

What does that mean for the Lakers? It’s not exactly clear, and earlier this week, even LeBron James said he had no read on what the NBA was going to do, or what fireworks might be set off before the deadline.

“I have no idea what to expect. I have no idea what’s going on behind closed doors with a lot of other franchises,” James said. “I won’t speak about other franchises. All I can do right now is worry about what we do on a day-to-day basis.”

It’s funny he says that, because worrying about what the Lakers do on a day-to-day basis is basically the mission statement of this site. One of the most hotly debated topics in our comment sections, articles, podcasts and on Twitter for months in this community has been various ideas about what the Lakers should do to bolster their roster, and differing theories about what is “wrong” with this team.

Do they need a center? Another wing? Should they wait for the buyout market? Trade everything that isn’t tied down for more help? James himself is less concerned.

“We love what we got going on over here,” James said.

That said, we shouldn’t take James’ faith in the team as a signal that the Lakers are not going to try and improve as they look to defend their title.

“Obviously everyone is looking to get better,” James said on Monday. “We’ll see what happens, but my mindset right now is the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night at Staples, and then we’ll go on from there.”

The Lakers took care of the Timberwolves already, but these comments from James are just another reminder that he’s just not going to demand the team make moves, or at least not publicly. He clearly has trust in this front office group to do their job, and let him mostly focus on his. He’ll surely end up having a say in whatever the Lakers do at the deadline, but while things can always change in the lead-up over the next week, it really does not appear like he’s going to call for a massive overhaul.

So get used to this team. They may make a few small tweaks, but the Lakers are not telegraphing as a team that’s going to put itself through any major upheaval in the days to come.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.