It seems that since winning the midseason championship, the Lakers have completed their tasks this season, so that they lost to the Spurs, Knicks and Bulls in successive games, and have come to 8th in the West with 15 wins and 13 losses.
Although Zhan Mei may still be the best duo in the league when he breaks out, Zhan Mei has a big gap with top duos like Embiid + Maxey, Otter Rabbit + Brown, Jokic + Murray, Xiaoka + George, etc., not to mention that many teams are now Big Three configurations, like the Clippers who have completed the run-in have 17 wins and 10 losses to the fourth place in the West, and at the beginning of the previous season, the Clippers ranked far worse than the Lakers.
Then the trade is also imperative for the Lakers, the Lakers have been rumored to have a trade scandal with LaVine in the past, but everyone believes that whether it is to provide Reaves or Russell to trade LaVine, it is essentially a change of soup and not a change of medicine, although LaVine has the ability to average 20+ per game, but like Russell, he has contributed 17 per game before9 points, the annual salary is only $17 million, which is close to 30 million cheaper than LaVine, LaVine is not cost-effective at all.
But Russell's most important weakness is inconsistency, especially after winning the mid-season tournament, and today ESPN commentator Perkins complained about Russell's recent inconsistent performance on NBA Today: "His current performance, I will only trade him for a box of Christmas candles and Christmas lights for life, he is so bad." Russell averaged 17 per game in November this season6 points, 49% shooting from the field and 42% from three-point rangeBut heading into December, Russell averaged just 87 points, 38% shooting, 26% three-point shooting. 
Abusing Jordan, against the strong team Jordan Jr., this is the best summary of the fans for Russell, it is undeniable that his contract is very cost-effective, but Russell has almost no explosive moments against strong teams, which is why he can only receive an annual salary of $17 million, and now look at it, if LaVine joins the Lakers and can still achieve an average of 20+ performance per game, then his premium part is only for the management, and LaVine is definitely an important supplement to the team.
In fact, I think that the Lakers' top priority is to get the reinforcement of the third giant, if it is just the introduction of functional players like Caruso, the Lakers' ceiling problem is still not solved, only to get a third giant who can be more reliable than Zhan Mei on the offensive end, the Lakers can really solve the current dilemma, like the Clippers need a playmaker, the Lakers need a scorer now, do you think, LaVine will be the answer?Feel free to share your views.