Los Angeles Lakers

Jeanie Buss on Lakers at NBA trade deadline: 'Monitoring everything'

Updated Feb. 8, 2023 2:14 p.m. ET

With the NBA trade deadline looming on Thursday and the Los Angeles Lakers sitting on a disappointing 25-30 record, does franchise governor Jeanie Buss think the roster needs an overhaul?

"We're always looking to improve our roster, but what we will not do is we're not going to make a deal that sets us back," Buss told FOX Sports on Tuesday. "Because you could take one step forward and then go two steps back. So, we're always monitoring everything."

There has been growing frustration within the Lakers locker room about the team's lackluster season. The Lakers are in 13th place in the Western Conference despite both LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing MVP-caliber basketball at various points in the season.

"How many games do we have left?" James said after a loss to New Orleans on Saturday. "Twenty-eight games left, we're still doing the same stuff over and over."

James even raised a few eyebrows recently when discussing where his continued motivation comes from.

"I still feel like I've got plenty of gas in this tank to help any franchise win a championship," James told FOX Sports over the weekend, ahead of setting the league's all-time scoring record on Tuesday. "And I'm here with the Lakers right now, so I'm trying to help them get back to the promised land for the 18th time."

When Kyrie Irving issued a trade demand last week to leave the Brooklyn Nets, James responded to being asked if Irving is the type of player who could help them get to the finish line by calling it a "duh" question. Irving was instead dealt to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, and James told ESPN on Monday, "I can't sit here and say I'm not disappointed on not being able to land such a talent."

James acknowledging his disappointment over not landing Irving complicates locker room dynamics since Russell Westbrook would have almost certainly been involved in that deal.

When Irving requested a trade from Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 3, the Lakers reportedly made an offer centered on Westbrook and their two future-first round draft picks in 2027 and 2029.

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After the Lakers traded Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks for Rui Hachimura last month, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka made it clear that the team would only part with their first-round picks if it could help them win a title.

"I think the calculus for the Lakers is to win a championship or not," Pelinka said Jan. 24. "There's no in-between or incremental growth."

Buss told FOX Sports on Tuesday that she feels the same.

"We're always looking to get better," she said, "but not at the cost of compromising our future."

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

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