While things haven’t been as bad as they were early last season, the Los Angeles Lakers are slumping. Their 126-115 loss to the Boston Celtics was the latest example of why it’s hard to envision this L.A. team as a title contender.

The core, of course, is solid. LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain two of the top players in the league. Head coach Darvin Ham also believes that the overall talent level is enough for L.A. to compete with the NBA’s best squads.

The problem is that Ham has struggled to find the right rotation to deliver success against quality opponents. By this year’s trade deadline, that rotation could easily involve a new face or two.

According to The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry, the Lakers could be closing in on a deal to acquire Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls—though it wouldn’t occur until closer to the February 8 deadline.

“All signs are pointing to these teams eventually finding common ground on a deal that works for both sides,” Mayberry wrote on December 20.

More recently, Sams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium told Fan Duel TV’s Run It Back that Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray is also a potential target for L.A.:

While LaVine or Murray would be an intriguing option next to James and Davis in the Lakers’ lineup, adding one of them would come at a cost. As Charania pointed out, teams looking to deal with L.A. will want a young player with upside, like Austin Reaves or Max Christie in return:

“That’s who teams will want. The Lakers obviously have shown no inclination of moving Austin Reaves, don’t want to move Austin Reaves, but those are the types of players that teams will ask for.”

While moving Christie could be under consideration, general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers absolutely cannot consider moving Reaves during their bid for a 2023-24 title.

Some fans may be willing to part with the 25-year-old, who signed a new four-year, $53.8 million deal in the offseason. Reaves wasn’t as efficient shooting early in the season—his field-goal percentage is down from 52.9 to 47.7—and he’s been relegated to a bench role for much of the year. However, he’s started to return to form recently, scoring 20 or more points in each of his last three games.

More importantly, though, Reaves is young, talented, under contract and a potentially pivotal piece of the franchise’s future. The Lakers cannot just forget how impactful he was during last year’s run to the Western Conference Finals.

James may or may not be back next season—he has a player option—which would leave Davis as the new centerpiece in L.A. Reaves has shown over the past couple of years that he can thrive as a second option when needed, and he and Davis would form a pair worth building around.

Clearly, the Lakers would prefer to capitalize on this season with James. However, there are other avenues to explore when it comes to the trade market. As The Athletic’s Jovan Buha noted, D’Angelo Russell or a picks/prospects packages would be preferable for L.A.:

“For LaVine specifically, I think the Lakers would consider a D’Angelo Russell-centric deal, but I don’t think they’d throw in much more than a combination of salary filler (Rui Hachimura and/or Gabe Vincent), a young prospect (Max Christie or Jalen Hood-Schifino) and a protected pick (2029 or 2030 first rounder).”

This is the route the Lakers should be considering when it’s inevitably time to play the trading game. Picks are always unpredictable, Christie or Hood-Schifino might be a part of the Lakers’ future, and Russell probably isn’t. Reaves should be, and retaining him should be just as important now as it was when L.A. offered him his current contract during the summer.