Even with the NBA trade deadline two months away, talks are starting to heat up, with recently-signed players becoming trade-eligible Sunday. The Lakers remain at the forefront of those conversations, with rumors growing every week. While fans are pointing to several players LA can part ways with, it appears the team wants one starter to stick around.
Lakers Trade Rumors: Talks Around Key Player are a “Non-Starter”
Lakers Not Budging on Austin Reaves
In the latest episode of the podcast “Buha’s Block,” The Athletic’s Jovan Buha and Sam Amick touched on what to make of the Lakers at this point in the season. Amick noted how, despite LA’s recent struggles and the clear need for trades, the front office will continue to ignore calls for guard Austin Reaves.
“They’ve been mostly stagnant for almost two years now in terms of making moves. And they’ve been very reluctant, specifically, to discuss Austin Reaves who I only highlight because he’s a good, young player on a very team-friendly contract that would inspire other teams to play ball, negotiation-wise. But that, to my knowledge, is still a non-starter.”
In 19 games this season, Reaves has averaged 16.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists on .440/.355/.774 splits. He has missed the last five games due to a left pelvic contusion, though is listed as “questionable” for tonight’s game against the Timberwolves at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Aside from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Reaves has been one of the team’s go-to players this season under head coach JJ Redick. He holds the third-highest usage rate among all Lakers (21.3%), has the third-most possessions on the team (1,332 this season) and plays the third-most minutes per game despite his absences (33.7 MPG). His early-season production, headlined by a career-high in scoring, remains a testament to his growth and ability to thrive in a new system with a coach willing to maximize his potential. All of these—among other factors—are sound reasons why the Lakers refuse to give up Reaves in nearly any trade.
How Rival Execs View Reaves
Though Reaves can do no harm in the eyes of Lakers coaches, execs and fans, other front offices have mixed emotions about him. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin surveyed other NBA executives for their thoughts on the Lakers at this point in the season, which included several remarks about the fourth-year guard.
One Eastern Conference exec praised Reaves’s effort and believes his teammates should “follow suit”:
“AD and LeBron need consistency from the rest of the group. The only guy that they rely on is Austin. He finally got to the point of not deferring to those guys. The rest of the group should follow suit. Too many guys don’t know how to play with them because they feel like they need to just give AD and LeBron the ball and wait for a pass. They end up forcing shots late-clock because that is when they get the ball.”
However, the Lakers received less-than-favorable remarks from a Western Conference exec:
“If Austin Reaves is your third-best player — and I love Austin, I think he’s a very good basketball player — but if he’s your third-best player, you’re not a championship contender, you’re just not. If you put Austin Reaves on the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Boston Celtics, he’s probably the fifth-, maybe even sixth-best player, on those rosters.”
The Lakers will need to get back to championship form soon, and it’s clear they view Reaves as a key part of the puzzle.
The Last Word
With several of LA’s targets becoming available for trade this Sunday, the time is now for Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss to get serious about improving the roster via trades, primarily because Pelinka’s 30-game evaluation period is almost up. Their stance on Reaves is laudable, as he would continue to excel in his role no matter who else joins the team. However, it leaves plenty of questions for other supporting Lakers and their future with the franchise—questions that could be answered sooner rather than later.
