Lakers & Knicks Discussed Deals, But Ultimately Left On The Outside Looking In As Trade Deadline Passes

The two teams in the league's biggest markets, who were also the two most desperate teams to make something happen due to massive struggles this season, were both unable to pull off any deals before the trade deadline hit at 3pm ET.

NBA Insider Brian Windhorst, in fact, reported that the teams almost had a deal with each other on Wednesday, but it fell through.

The Knicks and Lakers were ‘close’ on a deal yesterday but the trade fell apart, per Brian Windhorst pic.twitter.com/4NuOgII9XS
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) February 10, 2022

As for the Lakers, everyone from Magic Johnson to James Worthy, to even LeBron James, had been calling for changes, but despite having a number of trade discussions, they just didn't have the pieces to get anything done after dealing most of their tradeable assets for Russell Westbrook last summer. According to Windhorst, they at least discussed a blockbuster with the Houston Rockets that would have involved Russ and John Wall, and even more.

According to Windhorst, there potentially was a deal discussed with the Rockets involving Westbrook, THT and a 2027 first for John Wall and Christian Wood pic.twitter.com/iLp2xYfa9u
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) February 10, 2022

Today, the Lakers even got clowned by a rival player in the West on social media. And when told of their plans, as noted by Adrian Wojnarowski, that they will now focus on the buyout market, this is the reaction from Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson:

Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins start cracking up after Lakers don’t complete any trades 😂😂😂
pic.twitter.com/lyKbaRVdyE
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) February 10, 2022

All out laughter.

As for the Knicks, they would have received "some draft picks" and sent out a couple of players in the potential deal with the Lakers, "but it fell apart," according to Windhorst. The problem, he says, is that their young players haven't really increased their values this year, so they weren't in demand on the trade market.