Brandon Ingram was touted as the player who would serve as LeBron James' Robin in Los Angeles before the start of the season, but now it's becoming apparent that Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma are the ones vying for that second spot under King James.

In fact, Ingram is now looking like one of the prime trade pieces for the Lakers and an NBA executive has said that the third-year man is likely to be used in a trade at some point.

There's no doubting the 21-year-old's potential. At 6 ft 9 in, the versatile youngster has shown that he can both score and defend. Yet it appears that Kuzma is the better fit with James at the moment and the former University of Utah star has been posting more-than-respectable numbers in Ingram's absence.

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Kuzma has averaged 23.0 points per game on 50.5 percent shooting in Ingram's absence during the last six games and is hitting 36.6 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

Ingram, on the other hand, has failed to reach the 25-point mark in a single game this season and has averaged 15.2 points a contest in his 20 appearances for the Lakers. The player's average is quite decent and he does bring other things to the floor, however, he hasn't looked all that comfortable playing alongside James.

"You've got to make quick decisions [as a teammate of] LeBron," an NBA exec told Bleacher Report, "You can't hold on to the ball."

"I'm still a believer in Ingram," a video analyst chimed in. "He's still learning what he can do on the court. It's just a little harder to find yourself when you're playing with LeBron."

Lakers president Magic Johnson reportedly told Ingram he would be disappointed if he didn't average at least 20 points a game this season and, so far, the player is letting his boss down.

People are now of the view that the forward will be traded, given the team's ambitions to win and win now.

"[Ingram] will probably be traded at some point, whether it's for a second or third star," an NBA front-office executive told the publication.

"The Lakers are in win-now mode," an NBA player agent noted. "Everything is on the table to appease LeBron. They're going to make moves to bring in vets who fit around [James]. I think they wait until the summer to look into a big move involving a player like Ingram.  That gives them more time to get the best deal."

What This Means

The Lakers haven't brought up Ingram in trade discussions, so far, as they still value the player and rate him highly. In addition, they should have enough cap space to keep the youngster, along with the likes of Ball, Kuzma and Josh Hart, and still bring in a marquee free agent such as Kevin Durant next season.

The team can afford to still be patient with their third-year man, they are doing much better lately after all. But there could be some movement at the end of the season if he doesn't live up to expectations.

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