Bill Plaschke: By staying pat at trade deadline, Lakers win and LeBron James loses

Amid all the grading and grousing around last week's NBA trade deadline, there was one odd winner and one unusual loser.

Odd and unusual, because both wear the same uniform.

The winner was the Lakers.

The loser was LeBron James.

The winner was the Lakers because basketball boss Rob Pelinka smartly refused to trade an important first-round draft pick and important young star Austin Reaves for the marginal improvement that would have come with Atlanta's Dejounte Murray.

The loser was James because he wanted Murray, bad.

The winner was the Lakers because Pelinka would no longer mortgage