The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, and teams are desperately working the phones in the final hours before the buzzer sounds in an effort to improve their roster. The Los Angeles Lakers are in need a secondary ball-handler to help stay atop of the Western Conference standings. While they've outscored opponents by a championship-caliber 11.3 points per 100 possessions with LeBron James on the floor, they have been outscored by an equally staggering 3.3 points per 100 possessions when he has gone to the bench. Defenses with the talent to stifle James like the Clippers have managed to shut down almost the entire Laker offense.
One of Rob Pelinka's top priorities at the deadline has been fixing that issue, and while he's looked into most of the major names available at the deadline such as Derrick Rose and Bogdan Bogdanovic, two new names surfaced on Wednesday. The Lakers asked the Oklahoma City Thunder about backup point guard Dennis Schroder according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The Lakers also reached out to the Brooklyn Nets about Spencer Dinwiddie, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski during a televised appearance.
The Lakers were quickly rebuffed on the Schroder front, according to McMenamin. The Thunder reportedly would need a hefty return in order to deal their backup point guard, and that's hardly a surprise. Oklahoma City has dominated the league with a lineup featuring three point guards this season, and with a playoff spot in hand at the moment, the Thunder seem content to keep their roster in place for the remainder of the season.
While a Dinwiddie trade is hardly imminent, Wojnarowski did not dismiss the concept entirely. With Kyrie Irving, Caris LeVert and Kevin Durant in place, the Nets have more than enough ball-handling. Trading Dinwiddie now, at the peak of his value, makes some sense. With Irving back in the fold, Dinwiddie will only lose shot attempts opportunities to control the ball. Kyle Kuzma likely wouldn't be enough to get Dinwiddie, but if interests in the Nets, that would be a path worth pursuing for the Lakers.
The specter looming over all of this for the Lakers is Darren Collison. The retired point guard is considering a return, and he would be a perfect fit in purple and gold. If the Lakers are confident that they can lure Collison, they might be better served directing their assets towards a perimeter defender.
For now, though, the Lakers seem to be exploring all options for deadline improvement. If they can find the right ball-handler for the right price, they won't hesitate to pull the trigger.
