After seemingly demanding trades, LeBron James refuses to assess Lakers squad at midway point of the season

LeBron James cleared his thoughts on the LA Lakers' roster state after Sunday's 116-102 loss to the LA Clippers. James said the team's build was such that the Lakers have to play near-perfect basketball nightly to have a shot at winning games. James had another passive comment after the Purple and Gold bounced back with a 111-88 win over the six-win Washington Wizards in Tuesday's home clash.

The four-time MVP refused to give a clear-cut answer when asked about assessing the Lakers after game 41, the midway point of the season.

"I don't know, I haven't even really given us an assessment as far as the midway point," James told reporters.

"We want to continue to play good basketball, and obviously the Clipper game, the San Antonio game were not good games for us, but we gotta try to continue to build throughout this next 41."

The Lakers improved to 23-18, five games over .500. They are sixth in the West, with two fewer losses than the Dallas Mavericks, and tied for fifth place in the loss column with the fifth-placed LA Clippers.

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The LA Lakers aren't expected to make major roster moves at the trade deadline. After taking a step in the right direction by acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith from the Brooklyn Nets for D'Angelo Russell, the Lakers seem content with their current core. They were initially expected to make more moves, but The Athletic's Jovan Buha's latest reporting suggests otherwise.

“The sense around the league, when talking to rival scouts and front-office personnel, is that standing pat or making a half-measure trade (likely one or two second-round picks) is more likely than the Lakers going all-in and trading both of their future first-round picks that can be moved," Buha reported on Tuesday.

The Lakers still need significant upgrades in the backcourt and at the center position. Just getting help in one of the two areas may not elevate them to contender status. With a 23-18 record, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have seemingly done enough to prove the Lakers should gamble on a trade, but the front office potentially wants to preserve draft capital as an imminent rebuild looms once James retires.