Despite being one of the most talked-about teams heading into the NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers kept their finger off the trigger on any deals. Chief among the rumors was Russell Westbrook, who remains on the roster in what has been his most polarizing season yet.

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka was asked about the team's inaction during the busiest transaction day of the NBA season. LA was supposedly “aggressive” coming into trade talks, but was unable to have anything materialize.

“We were aggressive in a lot of conversations trying to improve the team,” said Rob Pelinka. “We always want to put this team in the best position to win a championship. But ultimately didn't find a deal that had a net positive effect for both the short term and the long term.”

According to Pelinka, his franchise stars in LeBron James and Anthony were aligned when it came to LA's strategy. With injuries holding the team back from building chemistry and the finite amount of trade partners willing and able to trade for Russell Westbrook, there was merit in giving the roster a fair shake – at least for this season. After all, Westbrook has notoriously been a second-half of the the season kind of player during his last few campaigns.

“You can't force another team to present yourself with a deal that is going to make your team be better. That's up to them,” the Lakers GM continued. “And throughout this process we had different things we looked at and like I've done in the past had conversations with LeBron and Anthony about it and I would say there's alignment here. And that's all that matters.”

The Lakers are running with what they have this season. Whether they turn things around or hurtle towards imminent disaster remains to be seen.