Reports: 12th-placed LA Lakers not rushing into a trade, could wait more than a month to make a move

Despite the LA Lakers going through more than their fair share of ups and downs to start this season, it seems the front office is in no rush to rock the boat. After starting the season on a historic losing streak that saw them lose five straight games, the team managed to turn things around. At the time, they were statistically one of the best defensive teams in the league, while also being one of the worst offensive.

Head coach Darvin Ham made several key changes, and notable roleplayers like Thomas Bryant and Dennis Schroder returned from injury to help turn things around. Despite that, the team currently sits in 12th place in the Western Conference with a 12-16 record. During that time, their big three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook have played integral roles in their success.

Despite that, talk has emerged in recent weeks of the Lakers allegedly monitoring the availability of Chicago Bulls stars DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. According to the latest talk, however, it sounds as though the storied franchise isn't chomping at the bit to make a huge move. A report emerged from The Athletic late this week about the topic.

As Jovan Buha wrote at the time, the team likely won't look to make a move for at least two to four weeks according to league sources. At the same time, Buha pointed to recent moves made in previous seasons that all seemed to occur around January. Although it's customary for teams to wait until the trade deadline to make big moves, the Lakers seem eager to break the status quo.

Below you can see some highlights from their big win over the Denver Nuggets Friday night.

The LA Lakers´ possible moves before the trade deadline

The team has been performing well in recent weeks with the exception of a three-game skid earlier this month. Despite that, Adrian Wojnarowski explained early in December that many teams, not just the Lakers are all keeping an eye on Chicago.

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With the Chicago Bulls putting forth an incredibly underwhelming season so far, it seems as though many are expecting them to throw in the towel. Woj spoke on the ESPN pre-game show back in the first week of the month, saying:

“Do the Bulls pivot at some point this season? Do some of their players become available? That’s not the case now. But I think for the Lakers, between now and February 9th, there is some high-end talent that is not available now that becomes available closer to the deadline.”

So far, the Bulls front office has remained adamant in their belief that the team can make the playoffs if Lonzo Ball is healthy. Unfortunately, for the Chicago front office duo of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, the latest reports for Ball don't look good. From the sounds of things, Ball likely won't make his return any time soon, with no guarantee that he returns at all this year.

Stay tuned for updates as they become available.

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