The overwhelming majority of NBA prognosticators believed that the Los Angeles Lakers needed to make a major trade before the season if they planned to seriously contend for a championship. If there were any doubters, they were converted on opening night, when the Lakers were blown out of the gym by the defending champion Golden State Warriors, 123-109. As currently constructed, this team is simply not capable of contending for a championship. Even LeBron James admitted that they lack shooting.

But that doesn't mean you should expect a blockbuster trade in the coming days. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers plan to re-evaluate the situation after Thanksgiving. Their hope, according to Wojnarowski, is that the trade landscape will have changed by then due to teams getting off to slow starts and potentially pivoting into rebuilds with Victor Wembanyama available in the NBA Draft. At that point, the Lakers could theoretically get more back for Russell Westbrook and their first-round picks in 2027 and 2029.

The potential flaw in this plan is what can happen between now and Thanksgiving. The Lakers play their 16th game on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Their next six games all come against teams in the playoff race: the Clippers on Thursday followed by Portland, Denver, Minnesota, Denver again and New Orleans. Things looked to get a bit easier after that with two games against the Utah Jazz, but they just blew out the Nuggets on opening night and appear a bit tougher than expected. The Lakers also have games against the Cavaliers, Nets and a second tilt with the Clippers on their schedule before Thanksgiving.

Any leverage the Lakers might have found would be wasted if they start out with a 5-11 or 6-10 record. If they wait too long, the season might not be salvageable regardless of what becomes available on the trade market. The reward here is that some player or players that we do not believe to be gettable right now will hit the market in the next month or two. That's entirely possible, but the risk of a slow start is far more present because, after opening night, it's feeling less like a risk than a certainty.