Will the Lakers make a trade at this year’s deadline?

Trade season is starting to kick off across the NBA and, unsurprisingly, the Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly pretty active in trying to improve the roster. With a bevy of guards (especially of the combination variety) and only one true wing under the age of 57, Rob Pelinka has his work cut out for himself, but both Aaron Larsuel and I think something can be done, as we explain this week on “The Hook.”

But before we can get to a fun collection of trade ideas that surely won’t make anyone react any certain way, we dove into the first set of All-Star voting results. Most notably, LeBron James’ tally, which fell behind Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo. We discuss what these results tell us both about the league, and how the Lakers fan base feels about this season thus far.

From there, we jumped into four trade ideas I put together as concepts (with more pieces or players added on the peripheries as need be to make them work). In each case, Aaron gave his analysis on who each trade benefits most, and occasionally commented on the taste of Hennessy, which remains delicious.

Finally, I asked Aaron about how he’s experienced days like yesterday, where NBA players get some kind of fairly definitive feedback on their popularity compared to their peers. It’s a fascinating look into the more human side of professional sports.

(Note: We recorded this episode right before news that the Lakers would be guaranteeing the contracts of Avery Bradley and Austin Reaves)

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.