The Lakers were very busy on Wednesday, doing good work to turn Russell Westbrook, two non-rotation players (Damian Jones, Juan Toscano-Anderson) and a first round pick into D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. All three will be rotation players. On Thursday, ahead of the NBA's trade deadline, the Lakers stayed active.

They flipped center Thomas Bryant to Denver for three second round picks and forward Davon Reed, then turned around and sent three second round picks and Patrick Beverley to Orlando for center Mo Bamba. Essentially, they traded Bryant's offense for Bamba's rim protection while also giving themselves access to a player they can keep going forward if they choose. (Re-signing Bryant this offseason would have been a challenge.)

So if you're keeping score, the Lakers have added five players in two days, four of which will almost certainly play a real role in the rotation in exchange for two rotation guys (Beverley and Westbrook), one rotation guy who was losing a hold on his spot (Bryant) two non-factors and a first rounder. That's excellent work by Rob Pelinka and his crew.

The Lakers roster is now younger, has more shooting, more interior and wing defense, and more cohesiveness moving into this offseason and next year.

It's a good day for the Lakers. Good enough? The Western Conference went AGGRESSIVE at the deadline, so competition is fierce. But they gave themselves a chance.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

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