The Los Angeles Lakers have turned the 2021-22 NBA season into a personal series of peaks and valleys.

Their current stretch of four wins in five games was preceded by a five-game losing streak. It's been stop-and-go like that throughout the campaign.

Clearly, this roster needs work, but the front office must figure out how to fix the team's issues. The Lakers are short on trade chips, and they don't have many big salaries to dangle, assuming that no one wants Russell Westbrook at his astronomic price.

L.A. can't take aim at the top tier of 2022 trade targets, but maybe a package involving Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and a future first-round pick is enough to nab someone from the second. Keeping that budget in mind, let's examine three targets worth exploring between now and the Feb. 10 trade deadline.

If the Lakers look for backcourt help, they would be searching for a specific set of skills. They need a guard who can play off the ball—since Westbrook and LeBron James will handle most possessions—make outside shots and hold his own defensively.

That's more or less the description of Derrick White, although his three-ball has been slow to come around this season (career-worst 28.9 percent). But if the Lakers are confident he will bounce back (he's a career 34.1 percent shooter), they might appreciate the early struggles if it keeps his trade cost within their price range.

The San Antonio Spurs won't be in a rush to move White, but they might be receptive to the idea for a couple of reasons. First, he's less consistent than you would like from a player making $15.2 million this season with an escalating salary over the next three years, per Spotrac. Second, he's a touch old for a rebuild (27), so the Spurs might want to move him out to create more minutes for younger guards like Lonnie Walker IV and Joshua Primo.

If the Lakers can open a trade path to White, he could shine as a high-level role player who makes them at least marginally better in a lot of different areas.