Hello, Lakers Nation. Welcome in to the Lakersnation.com podcast. I'm Trevor Lane. You can find me on Twitter at Trevor underscore Lane over on Instagram at Trevor Lane, NBA. I'm still currently visiting family. We'll be here through Christmas time, but that's why I'm not in my normal studio setting. If you listen to the podcast version of this, well, hopefully you don't notice much of a difference at all. But in any event, we've got a lot to talk about today.

We need to talk about version of this. Well, hopefully you don't notice much of a difference at all. But in any event, we've got a lot to talk about today. We need to talk about the Lakers match up with the Hornets tonight. I need to go over the injury report. All the stuff that we've got on Anthony Davis, the trade front, some stuff on Cam Reddish, Zach Levine. Those are the topics we're going to get into. Should be a little bit shorter show on this one than a typical show. I know we're all wrapped up with holiday things and stuff like that right now, but still some important Lakers topics to dive into. Before I do, quick reminder, make sure that you are subscribing to the Lakers Nation YouTube channel, ring the notification bell as well. And then, of course, over on the Apple podcast side, it's a big help to the show when you go over.

Give us that five-star rating and review. Love going through there and reading the reviews.

Take 20 seconds. Toss us a review. We certainly would appreciate it. All right. Let's get this thing

kicked off. And we're going to start with an important injury report heading into this Lakers matchup

against the Hornets tonight, which this is a must-win game in my book. Look into this Lakers matchup against the Hornets tonight, which

this is a must win game in my book. Look, the Lakers, they're not in a position where they

have the luxury of dropping winnable games. And that's exactly what this is. This is a winnable

game. The Hornets have not been a good team. However, they do have Lamello ball back in action.

Nonetheless, this is the Lakers injury report

currently. As of this moment, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, both probable. You've got left ankle

soreness for LeBron James, left foot soreness for Russell Westbrook. Both of them should play.

LeBron is always on the injury report. Of course, we know that helps allow the Lakers to sit him when they when they need to. Russell Westbrook has missed the last two games and the Lakers have missed him. Look, we've talked about this. Russell Westbrook has not been perfect for the Lakers this season. And if you dig into his stats, there are some areas where he's actually been worse than last season when you start getting into the percentages, the turnover percentage, particularly when you try to compare apples to apples by going per 100 possessions,

Russ has not been great in some key areas.

But what he has been good at is creating shots, just being a passer, being a creator on the

offensive end, being somebody who can get into the paint, collapse the defense, and then kick out and help generate open shots for other people. That has been an area where Russell Westbrook has been effective and their offense has been better with him on the floor than off of it. Now, his defense, there have been some struggles there. He and Patrick Beverly have kind of been the inverse where the Lakers defense is better with Pat on the floor, but their offense craters, the offense is better with Russell Westbrook on the floor, but the defense suffers in that situation. But nonetheless, this Lakers team, they need Russell Westbrook in action. Now, unless you replace him with, say, I don't know, two or three players via trade with the roster as it currently sits, they need Russell Westbrook

on the floor. So this is a good thing for the Lakers. And then, of course, LeBron being probable

to play. That's important as well. Once again, this is a must win. You have to win this game because

this is a very winnable game. You can't afford to pass up an opportunity like this. Further down,

the report,

Austin Reeves, still dealing with that right ankle sprain is questionable. Now, from what I've

heard, Austin was feeling pretty good shortly after the injury, but the Lakers were insisting

...