After playing in his first game since the trade deadline on Wednesday, LeBron James gave a shoutout to all of the Los Angeles Lakers players who were dealt last week.

Speaking to reporters after the Lakers' 120-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, James wanted to "shout out and salute" Russell Westbrook and the four other players traded by the team:

"Russ, {Patrick Beverley], [Juan Tuscano-Anderson], [Damian Jones] and Thomas [Bryant]. Those five guys. We all started the season together and tried to work to make some things happen and be the best that we could be out on the floor. So I salute those guys and their commitment to us trying to be as good as we could be on the floor. And right now, I mean, I like the guys that we have coming in. I mean, it's going to take some time for us to get to know one another, but I know that they play the game at a high level."

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General manager Rob Pelinka remade the Lakers' roster for the stretch run this season. Westbrook, Toscano-Anderson, Jones, Beverley and Bryant were traded away.

They were replaced by D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Davon Reed and Mo Bamba.

While James offered a farewell message to the players who were traded, he also spoke about the work ahead for the new-look Lakers as they try to make a playoff push with 23 games remaining.

"And every game is going to be tough for us, especially going down the stretch, knowing the type of push that we need to make.