Summary: So Thursday noon has come and gone, and what did we learn? The trade deadline is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Full disclosure: The first sentence is totally original, but most of that next part was borrowed from Macbeth. Still, it's nonetheless fair to say Trade Deadline 2014! was a relative bust, without a whole lot of action locally or across the Association. The Lakers made their move Wednesday night, sending Steve Blake to Golden State for MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore. The day's big blockbuster (relatively speaking) involved sending a B-ish player (Evan Turner) to Indiana for a once-pretty awesome wing (Danny Granger). The move could absolutely impact this year's title chase, but overall the day was defined by Twitter waiting around for something cool to happen. But good news! In this case, "nothing" means something. Thursday was still important for the Lakers, for different reasons. Click on the module to listen, navigating with the helpful list of talking points below... * Breaking down the Blake deal. Did the Lakers get anything they might be able to use going forward? * Thursday, Mitch Kupchak said they don't consider the repeater tax to be a big issue. Is he being genuine? Should the Lakers be more concerned? * Do the Lakers overvalue their own guys? Do they know how to operate from anything but a position of great strength? * No first rounders and few second rounders changed hands Thursday. Stars, or the closest thing this market had to offer, generally stayed put. What does this say about today's NBA, and how does that impact the way in which the Lakers will have to rebuild? * Evaluating the more significant deals. Blake to Golden State, Turner to Indy, and..., mostly that. Finally, does the methodical, unhurried nature of Mitch Kupchak's speaking style hurt the Lakers as the deadline gets down to the final moments? We investigate. Ultimately, the Lakers are today more or less what they were on Tuesday, a disappointing development for those (understandably) hoping they'd be able to pick up some assets. Back to the drawing board.
