Lakers Trade Rumors Heating Up With the Team's Intentions Starting to Leak

The NBA trade deadline is right around the corner, with teams having until Feb. 5 to make deals to improve their rosters for the final stretch of the 2025-26 campaign. The Los Angeles Lakers, as per usual, are expected to be active on the trade market, as they have some glaring issues to address, especially on the defensive end of the basketball floor.

With three weeks left to wheel and deal, general manager Rob Pelinka will likely be extremely busy working the phones in order to upgrade the Lakers' roster, as it seems highly likely the team might make a move before the trade deadline.

Lakers Potentially Set to Make Unexpected Moves

According to Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports, the Lakers' brass might be looking to acquire multiple first-round draft picks while also hoping to land a 3-and-D wing to address the team's most significant need.

The Lakers are looking to trade their 2032 1st for multiple future 1sts, similar to when the Suns flipped their 2031 first into 3 1sts. The Lakers are also searching the market for 3-and-D wings.

More Lakers talk on the latest KOC Show, including on the future of Austin Reaves. https://t.co/dGGCLKZxdV pic.twitter.com/dfs2MhFCA0
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) January 15, 2026

"With the Lakers, the word on the street is that they are looking to package Jared Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent together for a wing," O'Connor said. "The really interesting thing with them is they've been shopping around their future 2032 first-round pick for multiple first-round draft picks. Similar to what the [Phoenix] Suns did a year ago when they traded their 2031 pick to the [Utah] Jazz for three lesser firsts.

"So it seems that the Lakers are looking out for two or three future firsts that are worse individually than their future first, which gives them more parts to put together, and like Vincent plus Vanderbilt plus [Maxi] Kleber types of packages.

"The Lakers are definitely looking for a wing. I think they definitely have interest in Herb Jones. Probably too pricey, Trey Murphy. [Jonathan] Kuminga, maybe. Maybe the [Golden State] Warriors as a third team. Maybe we're going to see a situation where Kuminga gets sent to the Lakers for filler plus a pick, and then the Warriors send that pick plus other assets to go get MPJ or Trey Murphy or something like that, but that's my understanding with what the Lakers are angling to do."

The homerun trade for the Lakers would be landing Jones or Murphy in a deal before the trade deadline next month. Jones addresses the need on the defensive end of the floor while also having the ability to be a threat from beyond the arc, which is something Vanderbilt hasn't been able to do consistently, even though he's improved a bit with that part of his game lately.

Murphy might be redundant with Austin Reaves in the backcourt, but there's no doubt he's incredibly talented and might have a higher ceiling while playing alongside superstar guard Luka Doncic for the foreseeable future.

As for Kuminga, that's a step in the wrong direction. He hasn't been able to fit in with the Warriors, and that likely won't happen in Los Angeles either, as he doesn't address the team's defensive issues. Plus, it seems he wants to be the No. 1 option on a team, which he won't get playing for the Lakers sharing the floor with stars Doncic, Reaves and LeBron James.

It'll be interesting to see how things pan out for the Lakers, as there are bound to be more rumors surfacing over the next three weeks, with Pelinka seeing what he can do to improve this roster.