Prior to Friday's matchup against the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was asked about rumors that teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been heavily involved in trade talks. James, usually coy and cryptic with his words, surprisingly did not have much positivity to offer Caldwell-Pope.

https://twitter.com/pickuphoop/status/1073370241470816257

“It's a business. If you get traded that doesn't mean your paycheck stops. So it doesn't matter. You're still going to to be in the NBA. You'll continue to get better and better. If you get traded, it's a part of the businesses. It happens. It sucks, that for sure. Just go about it. My good friend Kyle Korver just got traded and he's been in the league for 16 years. You think it's hard for a younger guy? I think it's harder for an older guy to do it. Older guy with kids and a family, been in the same city for years. And then you get traded? I think that's harder.”

Though James would note that being traded “sucks” for any player, he made it clear that he feels veterans with families and who have been on a team for a number of years to be traded than a younger player with fewer responsibilities or seasons with a particular ball club, like Caldwell-Pope. James would use the Cavs trading veteran sharpshooter Kyle Korver to the Utah Jazz as an example.

James makes sense but it seems as if the writing is on the wall for Caldwell-Pope and everyone knows it.

Caldwell-Pope has been with the Lakers since the 2017-18 season. Before that, he played with the Detroit Pistons, who selected the Georgia native with the eighth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

This season, Caldwell-Pope is averaging 8.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 21.6 minutes per game while shooting 38.7 percent from the field, 34.9 percent from three-point range and 92.6 percent from the free-throw line. Second-year guard Josh Hart and veteran Lance Stephenson have taken the opportunity to play as many minutes as he did last year amidst the 25-year-old's struggles.

The Lakers are currently 17-10, fourth in the NBA's vaunted Western Conference. They continue to look for players to build around LeBron James without giving up their young talent, including Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. There has been talk of the Lakers adding a wing like Trevor Ariza sooner rather than later.

Caldwell-Pope could soon be a part of a trade that ships him elsewhere for good.

—-

UPDATE:

Multiple reporters who were indeed in the media scrum surrounding LeBron James at Lakers shootaround this morning say that this question was not about Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but rather just about any player involved in trades.