With his team three games under .500 just past the halfway mark of the season, Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka knew his roster needed to change -- in a big way.
In the first stroke of reconstruction on Jan. 23, Pelinka sent guard Kendrick Nunn and three future second-round picks to the Wizards in a trade for forward Rui Hachimura, a 2019 lottery pick with a polished offensive skill set who hadn't managed to develop in Washington.
Two and a half weeks later, with the Lakers stagnant in the standings and coming off a loss to Oklahoma City on the night LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league's leading career scorer, Pelinka deconstructed some more.