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LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have had a bit of an up and down start to the 2023-24 NBA season. The Lakers currently sit at 8-6 on the campaign, and James has continued playing at an elite level despite this being his 21st season in the association.
Still, that isn't stopping some pundits in the media from speculating on ways that the Lakers could improve their roster, including through the addition of Chicago Bulls guard Zach Lavine, who has found himself in the middle of trade talks for the last week or so.
Recently, former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas threw his hat into the Lavine discourse, including proposing that the Lakers should trade Austin Reaves to Chicago for Lavine.
“I like AR, but for Zach, I can [give him up],” Arenas said on his Gil's Arena Show podcast. “Because at the end of the day I would still have [D'Angelo Russell] being [D'Angelo Russell], with Zach, and LeBron and [Anthony Davis].”
While Austin Reaves stumbled out of the gates this season, he has since rebounded nicely, including hitting a dagger deep three pointer against the Houston Rockets in the Lakers' last game. D'Angelo Russell, meanwhile, has been quite inconsistent, as has defined his entire Lakers tenure, so far this season, but has still shown flashes of being the perimeter creator that is needed to surround James and Davis.
Neither Reaves nor Russell holds a candle to Zach Lavine in terms of sheer scoring ability, but the Lakers would be sacrificing some defense should they follow through on Arenas' request and part ways with Reaves instead of Russell.
