With a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the winning streak.

LeBron James made his comeback to the court following a two-game absence.

The general consensus is that GM Rob Pelinka will make a move this season,

despite the fact that the team is only two games above.500 and is having a terrible defensive season.

It won’t involve James or Anthony Davis, but could they dangle another starter out there?

A Lakers trade with a well-liked player could yield the most return.

Would Austin Reaves Actually Be Traded by the Lakers?

Since his Lakers debut a few years ago,

Austin Reaves has established himself as one of the most popular players in Los Angeles.

His potential was high, and he has generally performed well for the team,

leading many to believe that he would be a Laker for years to come.

But could that change?

Would the Lakers give up Reaves if they received an offer that was too good to refuse?

Given that LeBron isn’t leaving unless he wants to and that AD is almost certainly not going to be traded,

Reaves might be the Lakers’ best trade asset.

D’Angelo Russell is still in trade rumors.

Gabe Vincent is also expected to be involved in any trade,

but neither player is attracting any interest, which is a problem for the Lakers. Usher in Reaves,

who would attract a lot of interest from many teams if his name leaked into the trade rumors.

The question is, would Pelinka actually try to trade him?

Former ESPN personality Bill Simmons said on his podcast,

The Bill Simmons Podcast, that trading Reaves would yield the highest return for the Lakers.

I’m not sure what kind of panic trade the Lakers will make, but they will do it. LeBron, who is currently among the league’s top five defensive players, cannot be played with Reaves, [Dalton] Knecht, and D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell] if they genuinely want to be competitive. Unless you’re going to play a game that’s like 145-143, you can’t have those four players on the court at once. Reaves would be the trade guy, I suppose. Correct? “Because you took his contract and replaced it with another one.”

In any trade push, Rob Pelinka must be considering “defense.”

If the Lakers’ defense is their biggest and most obvious weakness, it must be fixed.

To be honest, one of the main reasons they are 14-12 and not better is their perimeter defense and defense in general.

Reaves, Russell, and Dalton Knecht won’t be able to stop elite shooters and offensive players.

Reaves can, however, occasionally find a good deal.

However, Simmons is right when he points out that it is typically ineffective to have Russell and Reaves in the starting lineup with LeBron and AD.

Teams would scramble to acquire Reave because of his offensive potential.

Along with being a clever player, he has a talent for going to the basket,

which typically results in a foul call.

In addition to a defensive player who can assist them in a critical area,

a package that includes Reaves and one or two of the Lakers’ long-hidden first-round picks may yield a respectable return.

They might be able to fit D’Lo in there as well. Naturally,

if the Lakers have no plans to trade Reaves, then none of this matters.

They reportedly want to trade for solid-depth players rather than a huge star.

It might not be necessary to break up with Reaves to go that path.

However, Pelinka would be wise to at least try his hand at a trade including

Austin Reaves and see what the Lakers could get in exchange.

This season,

Pelinka’s position is very much in the balance.

He can either do it or not.

The first step is to repair a poor defense.