As Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has pointed out, making trades in the NBA is no longer as easy under the new CBA.

There’s still no excuse for the Lakers to not improve this offseason though, and so far they have been unable to make any significant moves.

D’Angelo Russell gave the Lakers more options when he chose to exercise his $18.7 million player option for the 2024-25 season. That gives the Lakers the choice of either keeping the point guard on a reasonable, expiring contract, or use his salary as a part of a trade.

While Russell is hoping to stay with the Lakers, they have reportedly been looking to trade him. The destination that makes the most sense is the Brooklyn Nets as they have some pieces that would interest the Lakers and Russell has a good relationship with that organization after being named an All-Star while he was there.

How the Lakers recover from losing Thompson will be a fascinating subplot in its own right. While LeBron James has indicated a willingness to take less salary, sources said, in order to help Los Angeles add more talent to a roster that fell in the first round of the playoffs, time seems to be running out for how long James is willing to wait before securing his next deal. For the Lakers to bring on DeRozan, Los Angeles may have to work with a third team to offload some salary, such as D’Angelo Russell or Gabe Vincent, sources said. The Nets have been open to welcoming Russell back to Barclays Center since this past trade deadline, sources said.

The Nets are heading for a rebuild after recently trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks.

They have some other pieces that could interest the Lakers, including Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Day’Ron Sharpe and Dennis Schroder, so there could potentially be a deal that works out well for both sides here.