With the new NBA season around the corner, the trade rumors hinted that free agent J.R. Smith might be headed to the Los Angeles Lakers. Reports claimed that Smith might sign a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which, in turn, will send him to the Lakers. The trade is expected to involve Lakers point guard Jordan Clarkson.

Morning Ledger reported that despite the salary cap space issues shooting guard Smith is rumored to opt for a sign-and-trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. After which the Cavaliers will trade him to the Lakers in exchange for Clarkson.

According to the trade rumors, the aforementioned deal will help both the teams to rebuild their team before the start of the new NBA season. Reports stated that the Cleveland Cavaliers recently tried to re-sign Smith, but the deal did not materialize due to the 31-year-old's high salary demand. It is stated that adding Clarkson will help the Cavaliers to fill in the void created by Smith's departure.

On the other hand, even the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to benefit from the trade deal as Smith will help them to improve their offensive gameplay and thus strengthen their position in the Western Conference.

It is stated that adding Smith will help the Lakers enhance the performance of point guard D'Angelo Russell and small forward Brandon Ingram.

Nevertheless, few reports stated that the Cleveland Cavaliers might not easily let their veteran player, Smith, sign up with some other team in the league. The main reason behind this is that Cavalier's power forward LeBron James has expressed that Smith is a valuable asset for the team to defend their NBA title.

As of now, there is yet no official word on the rumored trade scenario. So, the rumors that J.R. Smith will play for the Los Angeles Lakers in the new season should be taken with a grain of salt.

Keep posted here for more updates and NBA trade rumors.