Lakers Rumors: LA Remains Committed to Austin Reaves Amid Zach LaVine Buzz
The Los Angeles Lakers are going to continue to be linked to Zach LaVine in trade rumors because... well, they're always linked to wantaway stars in trade rumors.
Just don't expect them to part with Austin Reaves.
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Lakers, "are also known to have interest in the Bulls' DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso" alongside LaVine, but a "conversation with Chicago is likely to include a request for Austin Reaves (who isn't eligible to be traded until Jan. 15). But by all indications, the Lakers remain as committed to Reaves as they were when they gave him a four-year, $56 million deal last summer."
It makes sense that the Lakers wouldn't want to part with Reaves.
For one, he's the type of two-way role player who fits perfectly alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He spaces the floor (36.2 percent shooter from three for his career), plays solid defense, serves as a secondary playmaker (4.9 APG) and offers scoring within the flow of the offense (14.8 PPG).
And all of that on a very affordable contract paying him $12 million this season, $12.9 million next season, $13.9 million in the 2025-26 campaign and a $14.8 million player option in 2026-27 that he'll likely decline.
The question the Lakers have to ask themselves is whether their title odds would be improved by going to a three-star approach, rather than the current approach of building out a complementary roster of role players around James and Davis. The team is currently 15-11, just eighth in the Western Conference, but also won the In-Season Tournament.
Would a player like LaVine or DeRozan take them to the next level? Maybe, though it's hard to see how an isolation scorer like DeRozan—who has never seemed to enjoy venturing out beyond the three-point line—would complement James and Davis, who each need spacing around them.
LaVine is a better perimeter shooter, hitting on 38.2 percent of his threes over his career, though he's just making them at a 33.6 percent clip this season.
Granted, perimeter shooting isn't the only consideration. How would either player, accustomed to being the first or second option on offense, adjust to being the clear No. 3 in Los Angeles?
That's less of an issue on the current Lakers, where players like Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura, among others, know the pecking order starts and ends with LeBron and AD.
At present, the Lakers have a carefully crafted roster that suits its stars. Now, the question is whether that roster has the upside to compete with the top contenders. The Lakers have until the Feb. 8 trade deadline to make that determination.
