LeBron James and the Lakers have been frequent travelers on the struggle bus ever since they won the NBA's inaugural In-Season tournament back in early December. Although James has (mostly) continued to play at an All-NBA level at the age of 39, the Lakers have now fallen back to a game under .500 after Thursday evening's demolition at the hands of the Phoenix Suns.

According to at least one former NBA player, the Lakers' problem is their shooting, or, more precisely, their lack thereof. Recently, former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to break down a clip from the Suns game highlighting Los Angeles' lack of spacing.

“I don't know what play they're calling, but it's going to be a bad one,” said Arenas. “You've got two non-shooters in the corner. You've got [Jarred Vanderbilt] who can't shoot, you've got [Cam Reddish] over there who can't shoot, so that means the Suns are going to help.”

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Indeed, the Lakers rank among the league's cellar dwellers in terms of three-point marksmanship this season. Surrounding LeBron James with shooters has always been the blueprint for maximizing the potential of a James-led offense; however, the Lakers as presently constructed simply don't have many players who can reliably keep the defense honest and play defense themselves on the other end.

With the NBA trade deadline fast approaching in February, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see the Lakers opt to shake things up, just as they did around this time a season ago.