While the Lakers are expected to be active in the trade market this offseason, Austin Reaves won’t be among those included.
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The Lakers’ potential plan to pursue a third star on the trade market this year could come at a high price. Most of the focus has been on which draft picks the Lakers have available, something the team received more clarity on over the weekend.
As valuable as those picks may be, something that every team is going to ask for in a trade for a star this offseason will be Austin Reaves. The guard may be coming off an up-and-down season, but he’s still supremely talented.
More than that, he’s also on a very affordable contract. The deal he signed last offseason with the Lakers is only going to age better and better as contracts across the league rise at rapid rates.
The Lakers are no stranger to that and while teams will almost certainly ask about Reaves in trades this summer, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers aren’t interested in parting with him.
“Teams are going to certainly ask for Austin Reaves and the Lakers are going to fight them on that and try and keep Austin Reaves.”
Of the many reasons the Lakers should want to retain Reaves, the trust he’s gained from Anthony Davis and LeBron James would be perhaps the hardest to replace. While you could find someone to replace his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 set, production and talent, it’s not going to be either quick or a given that the new player gains that trust from the team’s two current stars.
None of this is to diminish Reaves’ talent level, either. He is supremely s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed and has gone from underdog to arguably third star for the Lakers. Parting with him has to be for a slam dunk type of player. And even then, the focus should — and appears will be — on pairing Reaves with that player, specifically if it’s a guard like Donovan Mitchell or Trae Young, and not in place of him.
It’s a fine balance for the Lakers this offseason as they look to make sure the moves they make push the team forward. It’ll be hard to do that if Reaves is one of the players sent out.
