Lakers watch Bulls Mega Trade amid blast

The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing some better basketball lately, but they will face some challenges in the coming weeks as they will do without NBA star Anthony Davis. Davis suffered an injury to his right foot and will therefore be sidelined for at least a month.

This is a brutal blow to the Lakers as Davis played at an MVP level, averaging 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocks in 33.4 minutes per game. Replacing that kind of production will be next to impossible, but Darvin Ham will have to come up with something to keep the Lakers afloat.

LeBron James stayed healthy and played as he did against the Washington Wizards in their first game without Davis, scoring 33 points with nine assists and seven rebounds with one block. The Lakers won 119-117, but they will face much tougher testing than a Wizards team that has now lost 10 straight games.

With other teams in the Western Conference also struggling, like the Golden State Warriors losing Stephen Curry for a few weeks to injury, the Minnesota Timberwolves without Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz returning to Earth, it could be time for the Lakers to make a splash move to try to move up the leaderboard.

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers & Chicago Bulls Updates

The Lakers are certainly keeping an eye on the Chicago Bulls, who are seemingly getting closer to a rebuild. Chicago has a four-game losing streak and there’s not much to get excited about. Lonzo Ball’s status for this season is up in the air as his knee is not responding to treatment.

As shared by Eric Pincus of Bleacher Reportthe Lakers hope the Bulls come to the hard realization that they need to rebuild so they can make a blockbuster trade.

“The Lakers are interested in DeMar DeRozan and Vucevic, likely for two future first-round picks (and Westbrook). It’s unclear if LA would also want to bring back Alex Caruso.

Today, the Bulls don’t care what the Lakers would like as they keep going. Any overture where the team takes a step back will be rejected, but that could change as the deadline approaches.”

There are rumors that Los Angeles is likely to keep Russell Westbrook given his successful move to the bank. But if they want to make a big move to become true contenders, especially during Davis’ absence, Westbrook will definitely have to be on the move to match the salary and future selections.

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers & Chicago Bulls Updates

Adding DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Alex Caruso would boost the Lakers’ rotation quite a bit. Adding them to the mix, with Westbrook the only rotation player moving, would be the kind of move Rob Pelinka was alluding to when he said he’d do everything possible to make purple and gold a contender around James again.