The Los Angeles Lakers are ready to put the 2024 NBA trade deadline in the rearview mirror and focus on the homestretch. The problem is, as LeBron James and Anthony Davis emphasized after an all-too-familiar loss to the Denver Nuggets, they still don't have a grasp of their potential.

“I don't know,” LeBron replied when asked what the Lakers, if fully healthy, need to do to position themselves for another playoff run. “We haven't gotten to that point. So it's hard for me to say.”

The Lakers stood pat at the deadline, despite LeBron's efforts to nudge the front office. Before the Lakers' 114-106 loss to the defending champions on Thursday, general manager Rob Pelinka explained that the “right offer wasn't there” in a sellers' market — especially considering the Lakers' limited trade chips.

Instead, the Lakers will do their best with the group that made the 2023 conference finals from the play-in tournament — where the Lakers (27-26) seem destined, yet again (a win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday would help). As Pelinka noted, they'll have two additional first-round picks to package into trades this summer, when stars could become available.

“That's obviously for the front office to decide what's best for the team, currently and future,” said AD, who dropped 32 points and nine rebounds against Nikola Jokic. “My job's to go out and there with whatever guys are on the team. I don't really get too involved in 2027, 2028, 2029.”

If nothing else, the Lakers seemed relieved to shift their attention to basketball.

“My focus is on right now,” said Davis. “I'm just glad that it's over. It can kinda be a little wacky around trade deadline time. Guys hear their name in rumors.

“We are who we are. We have who we have. This is gonna be our team, now. It's behind us now. We gotta figure out how to get some more wins and move up in the standings.”

As LeBron, AD and Darvin Ham have repeatedly lamented, the Lakers are an unfinished product — largely due to injuries. Their core guys — including Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell (mysterious knee treatment notwithstanding) — have been constants in the lineup, but the availability of various rotation players has fluctuated.

Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent are out several more weeks (Pelinka expressed hope they'll return and contribute, but said he'll seek a “ball-handling guard” on the buyout market). Cam Reddish remains sidelined with a sprained ankle. Max Christie — an increasingly important piece — exited the Nuggets loss with an ankle sprain.

So, it'll be on the Lakers to improve internally. Perhaps clarity, continuity, and proven competitive chops — and buyout help (Spencer Dinwiddie?) — will be enough to replicate their postseason and In-Season Tournament success. The recent play of Christie and Jaxson Hayes is, at the very least, encouraging. (Rui Hachimura is a different story).

LeBron — who finished with 25 points (9-for-20 shooting), nine rebounds, and seven assists — brushed aside a question about how to maximize the Lakers' emerging talent with a blunt take on how they can optimize their overall product.

“Just health. Max went down today, didn't return to the game. Whole year's been about health.”

The Lakers got a taste of championship-level execution in the form of a polished, whirling Nuggets squad that swept them out of the playoffs in four games that felt jarringly similar to Thursday's proceedings: The Lakers played their tails off, kept it close into crunch-time, only to be victimized by a few defensive breakdowns and unstoppable Denver execution.

On an evening in which the Lakers' prolific history was on full blast thanks to the Kobe Bryant statue unveiling and the Mamba-themed night at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers were reminded just how far away they are from contender status.

“We all want to win,” said AD. “For us, right now, it's just about winning the next game. Can't look too far ahead in the future. That's the end goal, is to win every year. Obviously, our organization is used to championships.

“But, it's one, about staying healthy, and two, it's a lot of things we need to clean up on both ends of the floor before we're able to start talking about championships.”