The NBA trade deadline is a month away with the Los Angeles Lakers expected to be one of the more active teams in the league. The storied franchise is trying to shed salaries in order to be a major player in NBA free agency this summer with a few trade candidates emerging as the deadline approaches.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers have added Larry Nance Jr. to the list of players the team could move ahead of the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 8.

The Los Angeles Lakers, needing to shed salary for summer free agency, had been hopeful of waiting until the end of the season to move Jordan Clarkson — owed $26 million beyond this season — but there's a mutual desire to find something sooner than later. The Lakers have made it clear that Clarkson, Julius Randle and Larry Nance are available.

Although Nance is the ultimate team player and receives a lot of praise from the Lakers brass and coaching staff, Rob Pelinka and company may need to sweeten the pot in potential trade scenarios by adding him to deals in order to get them to go through. Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson have been trade candidates for quite some time now, but this is the first time Nance's name has surfaced as a potential player to be moved.

With the Lakers expected to target two big-name free agents on the market this summer, Los Angeles could become desperate to move contracts off their books with Nance being an unfortunate casualty before the trade deadline.  The team has been reluctant to make him available over the past year or so, but that stance appears to have changed if Wojnarowski's report is indeed correct.

The question now is whether the Lakers will go after a big-name player before the trade deadline or simply wait until free agency. It isn't out of the realm of possibility that DeMarcus Cousins or Paul George become available leading up to Feb. 8, but as of right now, Wojnarowski has downplayed the chance of either player being dealt.