It appears fairly obvious that Lonzo Ball could be traded before the deadline, or at least moved by summer, so the Lakers can bring in an established point guard to run the show alongside LeBron James.

There were whispers about a potential trade as soon as James signed with the Lakers back in July, as the bravado and scrutiny from LaVar Ball certainly isn’t something that LeBron’s camp tends to welcome. James likes to control/dominate the news cycle, and often ensures that he’s the focus, with a positive spin.

Not only that, Ball has been working through injuries this season, and his play on the court has not been anything to write home about. So it appears he could be on the move, possibly even before the trade deadline in a week. Apparently, the Suns are a possibility.

After learning of the Lakers’ offers to the Pelicans, Lonzo Ball’s camp maintains that New Orleans isn’t the desired destination. Phoenix makes the most basketball sense if Ball were to be traded and according to two sources there is mutual interest. — Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) January 31, 2019

This is interesting, as Ball playing alongside Devin Booker would be intriguing. And the Suns have been “sellers” up to this point, so maybe they’re taking a page out of the Mavs’ playbook, and are attempting to improve. We’ll soon find out.