Lakers have a trade-deadline subplot nobody’s talking about

Slovenia v Poland - EuroBasket 2025 | NurPhoto/GettyImagesThe idea of the Los Angeles Lakers doing little to nothing at the trade deadline verges on unfathomable. But if inaction is the path they go down, it could suggest that team president Rob Pelinka is on thin ice.

To answer the question many may have: No, it does not matter that the Lakers signed their lead executive to an extension last April. The team’s ownership has changed hands since then, landing with Mark Walter, who purchased a majority stake from the Buss family, at a $10 billion valuation.

Regime changes almost always have a way of fomenting overhauls. New owners like to put their own people in place. While Jeanie Buss is…