Alperen Şengün continued his meteoric rise as the Houston Rockets stretched their winning streak to four games, defeating the Dallas Mavericks 110-102

Jimmy Butler led the Golden State Warriors to a road win over the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night while the Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted the Houston Rockets on opening night.

With the Lakers searching for players to fit in with their newfound youth movement alongside the 26-year-old Dončić, one NBA writer has suggested that the storied franchise should exact revenge on Houston by acquiring their developing defensive forward Tari Eason in restricted free agency next summer.

That said, a 40-year-old LeBron James will miss the Lakers' opener against the Warriors. The four-time league MVP and four-time NBA champ is dealing with sciatica and is reportedly eying a mid-November return. James' early-season absence could set the stage for the beginning of a Dončić MVP campaign.

One year, the Memphis Grizzlies declined the fourth-year option on former No. 19 pick Jake LaRavia's rookie deal. Maybe the disrespect lit a fire under LaRavia, who has scored 25 points in two of his last three games for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lakers predicted to cut ties with Austin Reaves, pair him with 2-time NBA champion, former MVP originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.