The Lakers are not operating from a position of power when it comes to trade negotiations right now. While it’s not a fun realization or a particularly enjoyable fact, a team in win-now mode starting 3-10 is going to be treated as a desperate one in trade discussions because, to be frank, they probably are.
Opposing teams currently view the Lakers as a team that can potentially be taken advantage of in a trade as they look to jump back into contention in some type of form. To that point, Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has stood firm in not making any panic moves, something that one anonymous Western Conference executive commended him on.