It's no secret the Los Angeles Lakers have been in the trade market amid a disappointing start to the 2022-23 season. However, potential moves might not happen until later this month.

The Purple and Gold are weighing three different trade options for after Dec. 15, according to The Athletic's Jovan Buha. Those three options include trading Russell Westbrook and attaching draft picks to him in order to acquire a star or multiple players; packaging Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn with picks to bolster the roster; or a combination of the two deals.

Team sources told Buha that the Lakers are "leaning toward" the second or third option, which "would entail making a smaller move to marginally upgrade the roster while retaining the possibility of following up with a larger Westbrook deal later in the season."

While the Purple and Gold have won six of their last eight games, they still sit 13th in the Western Conference at 8-12.

Further, the team's roster isn't built to sustain success if some combination of LeBron James or Anthony Davis goes down with injury.

We saw those struggles last season, with James playing 56 games and Davis appearing in just 40 games. The Lakers finished 11th in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record.

While the Lakers missed the postseason, they weren't able to make significant upgrades entering this season because of the hefty salaries of James ($44.5 million), Davis ($38 million) and Westbrook ($47.1 million). Instead, general manager Rob Pelinka had to fill out his roster with average talent, including Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, Lonnie Walker IV, Dennis Schröder and Thomas Bryant.

Still, the Lakers are continuing to evaluate their roster, and the team's upcoming six-game Eastern Conference road trip could be "a potential swing factor in how aggressively the front office dangles their first-round picks on the trade market," Buha wrote.

L.A. will face some tough opponents coming up, including the 15-5 Milwaukee Bucks, 14-8 Cleveland Cavaliers, 12-10 Philadelphia 76ers and the 18-4 Boston Celtics, though that game is set for Dec. 13 at Crypto.com Arena.

Westbrook has been mentioned as a trade candidate since last season. However, the veteran's performance last season coupled with his $47 million salary have made him a tough player to move.

To deal Westbrook, the Lakers almost surely will need to attach at least one of their 2027 or 2029 first-round draft picks, though it doesn't seem like they'll do that unless the return is significant enough.