LeBron James might be waiting for the Los Angeles Lakers to make the requisite roster moves before the trade deadline to become real contenders.

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be among the most active teams ahead of the 2025 trade deadline. The roster needs reinforcements badly, with a weak bottom end of the rotation and inconsistent depth across positions.

LeBron James was asked about the team going into the trade deadline and what changes could happen on the ‘GoJo and Golic’ show. James kept it real and admitted that the Lakers we see right now might not be the same Lakers in a month.

“I think so. I think our identity is one defensively, where we want to bring physicality to the game and make teams do something they do not like to do. Offensively, we want to share the ball. We’re really good when we’re in the high 20s for assists.” 

“I feel like we have so much more room to improve. We’re not the team I believe we’re going to be when February-March hits. I do like our chances and we gotta continue putting the work in.”

The Lakers are one of the only teams to have already made a win-now mid-season trade, acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith from the Brooklyn Nets at the end of December 2024. Finney-Smith was an acquisition in the right direction, but the Lakers still need a few more key reinforcements.

The team’s team’s primary target should be a backup center behind Anthony Davis, who is also good enough to justify double-big lineups where Davis serves as the power forward. Beyond that, a shot-making guard would be a great addition, considering Austin Reaves is essentially the only player in that mold right now.

They’ve been linked with a wide variety of targets, from high-volume scorer Zach LaVine to role-playing centers like Day’Ron Sharpe.

LeBron Opens Up On Injuries Derailing A Season

One of the bigger revelations from James came when he spoke about the nature of postseason basketball and how a team stands basically no chance in the Playoffs if they’re not on a winning roster and if they have suffered major injuries.

“When it comes to the postseason, if you’re not going in with a healthy roster, you’re not giving yourself the best chance to win. We definitely want to continue winning games. We’re in the Wild Wild West where there are a lot of great teams who are accumulating wins every night. We want to do that as well.” 

“If you’re winning and going into the postseason not healthy, you’re not giving yourself a chance to win big. There’s definitely a fine line and I hope we can be on both sides where we’re winning games and healthy.”

LeBron seems to be advocating reasons for the Lakers to add depth behind their current core of players. They don’t have a very robust rotation outside six to seven players, so if any of those players get hurt, the Lakers will be adversely affected.

LeBron is averaging 23.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.8 assists this season, so he can’t supplement the production of his teammates anymore. If the Lakers want to be realistic contenders, they need to be that on the trade market.