Lakers Should Not Trade Austin Reaves Amid Title Hopes, NBA Rumors
The Los Angeles Lakers need a big man.
They are not, however, likely to include their greatest trade chip, Austin Reaves, in any package to get one, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times reported.
Nor should they.
"The team has shown no interest in using Reaves in a trade that nets them anything less than a top-tier big, and there really aren’t any of those available, with the two most common names linked to them in the earliest stages of the offseason — Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton and Dallas’ Daniel Gafford," Woike wrote.
While Claxton and Gafford have each shown flashes, and both are fits for the style of play Dončić favors, neither is a proven commodity or star big enough to justify trading away the first potential breakout star that the Lakers have homegrown in years.
Claxton experienced dips in rebounds and blocks this season and has seen his point totals diminish in each of the last two seasons.
Gafford shot worse from the field (70.2 percent) than the previous year (78 percent) and while he saw a the highest points average of his career (12.3), he played five minutes less over the last two seasons than he did in Washington and has never topped 26 minutes a night.
Reaves is coming off a career year in 2024-25, starting all 73 games in which he appeared, shooting 46 percent from the floor, 37.7 percent from beyond the arc, and knocking down 87.7 percent of free throws. He set career marks in rebounds (4.5 per game), assists (5.8), and steals (1.1), while his 20.2 points per game were the highest in his four years in the league.
In nearly every measurable category, he has improved and there is no reason to believe that will not continue under head coach JJ Redick.
Woike noted that the best assets the team has outside of Reaves are Dalton Knecht, a 2031 first-round pick, and expiring contracts. The center market is not much better, with Myles Turner likely to get a significant raise following Indiana's appearance in the NBA Finals and the aging Brook Lopez and Clint Capela making up the free agent class.
The Lakers dropped the ball by not addressing the center position entering the season, when everyone knew it was a weak point of the roster.
Now, though, with a lack of proven players available and worthy of a budding star like Reaves in return, the team should focus on the draft and potentially acquiring a big man there.
That is, unless the opportunity to acquire a player who can come in, have the desired impact, and instantly make the team better becomes available. Otherwise, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where the Lakers are better off with any of the obvious options and without their talented 27-year-old guard.
