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'I'm Just Here To Play Basketball': Young Lakers Try To Ignore Trade Deadline Drama

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Lakers have been aggressively working to make a trade for New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis, and the drama has been hard to ignore for the young players who would be pawns in a trade.

The Lakers reportedly offered to trade Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasely and two first-round picks in exchange for the 25-year-old Davis, along with Solomon Hill for salary-matching and cap relief purposes.

The new offer was an escalation from last week, when the Lakers reportedly offered Ball, Kuzma, Ingram and center Ivica Zubac.

"It's everywhere. You can't really not see it," Kuzma said from the Lakers locker room. "At the end of the day, we gotta, you know, figure out a way to block it out and still perform and play."

Blocking it out even on the court has been difficult. On Tuesday, Indiana Pacers fans taunted Brandon Ingram with chants of "LeBron's gonna trade you" as he shot free throws.

"Y'all put more speculation on the trade deadline than anybody else," Ingram said to reporters in the locker room. "I'm just here to play basketball. I can only control what I control."

The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at noon.

The Lakers are on the road and will face the Boston Celtics.

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