It is no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers have serious interest in acquiring New Orleans Pelicans All-Star forward Anthony Davis. Although they were unable to do so prior to February's NBA trade deadline, there were floating reports that the Lakers made virtually everyone on the roster -- not named LeBron James -- available in a potential deal. This means that veterans like Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and JaVale McGee and young guys like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma alike all heard their names mentioned as replaceable pieces.
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With reports about the bulk of the roster being dangled at the deadline, the Lakers' recent struggles shouldn't come as too big a surprise. They have gone just 3-7 over their last 10 games, and now sit 3.5 games outside of the playoff picture in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.
However, while speaking at the 2019 Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston on Saturday morning, Lakers President Jeanie Buss shot down the idea that the Lakers dangled their entire roster for "a certain player," slamming it as "fake news," per Howard Beck of Bleacher Report.
Jeanie Buss calls “fake news” the reports that Lakers were prepared to trade “our entire roster” for “a certain player.”#SSAC19 #rebootingtherivalry
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) March 2, 2019
It is possible that the Lakers' offer wasn't as meaty as initially reported, but it is also entirely possible that Buss is just trying to do some public damage control to try to temporarily smooth over an otherwise potentially awkward situation with players that were used as trade bait remaining on the roster.
Buss isn't the first member of the Lakers' front office to try to publicly mollify the situation in the locker room following the deadline drama.
"I love our team," Magic Johnson said last month. "I love the guys. It's a tough part of our business whether you're mentioned in trade talk, or you get traded. It's a tough part of professional sports ... My job is to make sure we stay together as a team and stay focused on the goal, which is to make the playoffs."
The Lakers, back in action on Saturday against the Suns (9 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension), can say all the right things, but at the end of the day, it still might be difficult for the players on the team to buy in fully knowing that their fate was delayed only temporarily, and that they could find themselves on the trading block again this summer when Davis -- and other stars -- become available again.
