NBA Rumors: J.R. Smith and Gilbert Arenas Linked to Los Angeles Lakers

According to USA Today, the Los Angeles Lakers have been talking to free agents J.R. Smith and Gilbert Arenas recently. 

Smith played for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China for the last few months due to the NBA lockout, but he's back in the United States now, looking for a suitor.

Arenas was released by the Orlando Magic prior to the start of the season thanks to the amnesty clause, a product of the new collective bargaining agreement.

Smith had his best season in 2008-2009 for the Denver Nuggets when he came off the bench and averaged 15 points per game. The Lakers who sit at 17-12 this season, largely because of Kobe Bryant, could use a guard to take some playing time away from the aging Derek Fisher.

While Smith is a shooting guard (Fisher runs the point), he would give the Lakers a valuable bench piece as well as a dead-eye shooter.

For those of you who didn't know, Smith came off the bench and scored 60 points in a Chinese league playoff game. He hit 14-18 three's while only committing three turnovers. The Lakers only hit five three's a game so it's safe to say they could use some help behind the arc.

Arenas worked out for the Lakers this week and the events leading to his free agency have been very different from Smith. He averaged 17 points a game with the Wizards last season before falling out of the team's good graces following his John Wayne twitter comment.

It remains to be seen if the volatile Arenas still has the ability to excel in the NBA. Fisher and Steve Blake have been pretty weak, as has everyone on the team not named Kobe, Andrew or Pau.

If the Lakers sign him, his impact could be immediate if he's able to perform at the level he did l prior to his locker room standoff with teammate Javaris Crittenton.

When asked about the prospect of bringing in Arenas, Mike Brown said this: "If Gilbert or anybody else can help us play at a higher level and help us win, that's Mitch's job to improve this team that way. My job is to improve this team by way of X's and O's on the floor."

Sounds like Brown is preparing for the rest of the season with the team he has and is leaving it up to his general manager Mitch Kupchak to make the decision.