LeBron James Pleased with Lakers Trade Deadline Moves

The NBA tradeline has come and gone and there have been some major moves made. Among them was Kyrie Irving going to the Mavericks from the Nets and his former teammate Kevin Durant landing in Phoenix. Another blockbuster trade belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers who dealt Russell Westbrook in a three-team deal and got some pieces in return. Regarding that, Lakers star LeBron James is pleased with the trade deadline moves.

The Lakers received a multitude of players at the trade deadline. One of them is a former Laker who returned to the team, D'Angelo Russell. Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt were two other players who joined the Lakers via the Jazz in the three-team deal. In a separate deal, the Lakers picked up seldom-used Mo Bamba from the Orlando Magic.

LeBron James, who won a championship with the Lakers in 2020, is looking to add another one to his resume. Earlier this month LeBron surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points scored in NBA history. The Lakers made all these trades to hopefully give LeBron an opportunity to compete in the West and he was not disappointed. He praised Russell for his knowledge of the game and called Vanderbilt a "Swiss Army Knife," capable of doing a multitude of things on the court.

LeBron said he was pleased with LAL’s trade deadline. Amongst the new starters, he praised Russell’s skillset and IQ, called Malik Beasley a “laser” that LAL haven’t had, where defenses have to respect him, and Vanderbilt a “Swiss Army Knife” who can do a bit of everything.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) February 16, 2023

The Lakers have won two of their last three games since the trade deadline. They currently sit in the 13th seed but are only four games out of the sixth seed in a competitive Western Conference. With new players aboard, the Lakers only have 23 games left of the season after the All-Star Break to make a strong push. With LeBron at the helm, the team is not out of contention for what could be a close race to make the playoffs.