As Deadline Looms, Deals Are ‘Unlikely’

The trade deadline is Thursday at noon, and the Lakers still are what they are, as of late Tuesday night.

“Every time this year, there’s a lot of activity,” Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. “It’s tough to make a deal in this league. We’ll continue to be aggressive up until the deadline.”

But, Kupchak said, a deal is “unlikely.”

Kobe Bryant is untouchable, but Lamar Odom’s recent slump led to talks with some teams, many contacting the Lakers in hopes of getting the struggling forward for a bargain price.

One of the more compelling deals would have sent Odom to the New York Knicks for sixth-year guard Jamal Crawford and rookies Nate Robinson and Channing Frye, although the Knicks were unwilling to part with Frye to make the trade work, according to numerous sources.

Odom was also linked to a trade with the Orlando Magic for guard Steve Francis in a published report that was emphatically denied by the Lakers.

Odom, who is averaging 13.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists, has three years and $39.7 million left on his contract after this season. His monthly scoring average has slipped every month since the season began in November.

Other Lakers are in the last years of their contracts, making them preferred commodities in the trade market.

Devean George, who is averaging seven points and four rebounds, is in the last year of a contract that pays him $5 million this season, and Slava Medvedenko, though out because of a back injury, is getting $3 million in the last year of his contract, money that a team would wipe off its books as soon as the season ends.

Bryant met with Kupchak on Monday, a little more than 12 hours after he had finished playing in the All-Star game in Houston, although the Laker guard said he did not ask for additional help before the trade deadline.

“Nope,” Bryant said, characterizing the meeting as productive. “It was good. This and that, yadda, yadda.”

Kupchak, who says he often meets with players, declined to comment, saying only that “conversations between me and our players are private.”