The Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine is a much better fit than Westbrook, at least offensively, but there are legitimate concerns about his contract and injury history. Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray is on a much more manageable deal than LaVine, but he’s slipped defensively this season and has historically been a shaky shooter. The price for the Utah Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen is too steep for Los Angeles. Pascal Siakam is now off the board after getting traded to the Indiana Pacers. It’s unknown if another star or star-adjacent player will emerge — at least one the Lakers can reasonably attain. (Even if, say, Cleveland makes Donovan Mitchell available, the Lakers don’t have the assets to trade for him.)

With all that said, let’s dive into some questions and topics that will dominate discussions over the next few weeks.

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Are the Lakers likely to make a move?

Yes, though the magnitude of the move remains unclear.

For weeks, the Lakers were circling Jan. 15 as an important date to assess their roster. However, due to a combination of injuries and vacillating lineups, they have only now just settled on a starting group and rotation in which they are confident. Therefore, barring an unforeseen development, the Lakers plan to remain patient and use the next two weeks or so to continue that evaluation process before making a trade, according to team sources. Waiting may also drive down some of the asking prices for certain targets, as teams tend to overvalue their own players weeks out from the deadline.

The trade market has more buyers than sellers, which will likely drive up the price for quality starters and high-level role players, to say nothing of All-Star-caliber ones. The Lakers don’t want to just shake up their core, even with their disappointing first half of the season. They want to acquire difference-makers to address some of their glaring needs: 3-point shooting, perimeter speed, athleticism and better two-way play.

The Lakers’ recent surge has been important. There was a moment in early January when the season was trending toward being lost. Had that continued, the Lakers might have decided this group wasn’t worth further investment and stood pat at the deadline. But after wins in four of their last six games, including victories over West playoff contenders Oklahoma City, Dallas and the LA Clippers, that’s no longer the case. At a minimum, expect the Lakers to make a smaller move that bolsters their bench. On the opposite end of the spectrum, they could acquire another starter or two.

For the second time in as many games, coach Darvin Ham pushed back against the notion that the Lakers’ current roster needs reinforcements while simultaneously acknowledging there’s always room to improve.

“Again, everyone keeps talking about, it’s that time of the year, I guess, but with the trade talks, and again, everyone understands in this business that, if there’s opportunities to get better, you’re going to do that,” Ham said. “But the reality of it is, we have what we had down the stretch last year, as well as more firepower and guys who are a year closer and experienced in playing with one another. So, yeah, we can stop looking around and just look at ourselves, look within ourselves. It’s a ton of excellent basketball that we can play and a ton of games that we can win with this group as it is constructed.”

Which players are eligible to be traded?

The entire Lakers roster is eligible to be traded except for Anthony Davis, who becomes eligible on Feb. 6, and Jarred Vanderbilt, who can’t be traded this season due to the timing of his offseason contract extension.

As of Jan. 15, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura are eligible to be traded. There was a misconception that D’Angelo Russell also could not be traded until Jan. 15, but that is incorrect. He’s been eligible to be moved since Dec. 15.