The Los Angeles Lakers are mere hours from returning to the court to begin their 25-game-long attempt to make up the three-game gap between them and the Western Conference’s eighth seed of the playoffs. Not only will they be competing against other NBA teams or the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers for that last spot, but also against the nasty residue left behind by this year’s trade deadline.
“Move on. Be professional,” you (or Magic Johnson) might say, but it isn’t that simple. These guys are still human, and it will take some time for them to move on from being the center of the deadline’s most pervasive story.