Lakers’ nightmare 2026 NBA trade deadline scenario that ruins title chances

The trade deadline is only weeks away, and the Lakers find themselves in a similar predicament as last season. They’re right in playoff contention but still far away from actually being one of the few teams that have the opportunity to compete for a title. The NBA has changed drastically. Gone are the days of superstar duos and trios dominating the league. Roster construction and depth matter. Size and athleticism matter. And how you fit role players around your key players matters.

Last trade deadline season, the Lakers walked into a dream scenario where they were the beneficiaries of one of the most shocking trades in sports history. They were able to land a future Hall of Famer entering his prime in Luka Dončić, in a transaction that even shocked Dončić himself. In the year following the trade, we see that the Lakers clearly won, as they got the best player.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks are fighting obscurity; they’re about a month away from fully committing to a rebuild and possibly trading Anthony Davis either by the trade deadline or in the offseason. But I seriously doubt that Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office will be able to pull off a miracle trade like they did with Dončić this season.

The fate of the Lakers in the 2025–2026 season lies in what they do in the next couple of weeks to address the weaknesses of this team. While they are proficient in scoring, as Luka leads the league in points per game, Austin Reaves was having a career year before his injury, and LeBron James is still displaying his legendary skills despite being the oldest player in the NBA, the quality that they lack is defense. They made some moves in the offseason to address this problem, adding former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and fortifying their starting center position with Deandre Ayton. But it’s still clear that the Lakers are far behind the best teams in basketball when it comes to their defense.

It doesn’t help that LeBron’s best days are behind him, as he’s no longer a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and Luka and Austin Reaves are not proficient in man-to-man defense. A zone can only help so much to hide the weaknesses that this team displays night in and night out, despite having a winning record. The biggest nightmare scenario that the Lakers can undergo is that they do nothing. That’s the biggest nightmare. I went through the whole entire trade season, and the Lakers standing pat is the absolute worst-case scenario.

They have to find a way to get a starting-caliber wing to fortify their defense. Over the offseason, the Lakers were linked to Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins, though it appeared that Miami’s asking price was too steep for the Lakers. The Lakers have also been linked to New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones, though the Pelicans are also demanding a steep price for the services of Jones as a quintessential 3-and-D defender. There are a lot of athletic, young defenders in the NBA that I seriously think the Lakers should target before the trade deadline.

I think that one move can drastically improve the team because it provides an answer to the biggest question that faces the team’s chances at contention. It’s not every season that you have two Hall of Famers on your team. This is not a down or a transition year for the Lakers. They have to capitalize on the opportunity in front of them and make the moves necessary to compete for a championship this season.

Committing to the roster that they have beyond the trade deadline is the worst-case scenario all around. Pelinka needs to get it done and prove that he’s the general manager who can lead—and prove that he’s the front-office man who can lead the Lakers to another title this decade.

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