First Take Windhorst theorizes that the Lakers' inaction this offseason is purposeful possibly to drive LeBron to request a trade 'The Lakers are essentially viewing LeBron as an expiring contract What happens to expiring contracts in the NBA They are viewed as trade pieces

Brian Windhorst When LeBron doesnt play and Austin Reaves and Luka do the Lakers are a better team

Windhorst The Cleveland Cavaliers are signaling that they are willing to move away from their core-4 in large part because there are legitimate worries that Donovan Mitchell will not extend with the franchise this Summer

Amick Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers are unlikely to make a trade before Thursdays NBA Trade Deadline

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka on the trade deadline I would say we were aggressive And one form of being aggressive is saying no thats like being aggressive even though you end up doing nothing because its hard to say no sometimes to getting a good player

Windhorst on why Cleveland is doing the Harden deal The key here is that the Cavs are moving away from believing in the Core 4 and I think the genesis of this is because they're worried that Donovan is not going to re-sign this summer

Windhorst The key here is that the Cavs are moving away from believing in the Core 4 and I think the genesis of this is because they're worried that Donovan is not going to re-sign this summer