Ranking the Best Trade Landing Spots for Austin Reaves During 2025 NBA Offseason
Trade winds have swirled around Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves for a while now.
They've already been a big enough talking point during the 2025 NBA offseason, in fact, that he's actually chimed in on the subject.
"I want to be in L.A.," Reaves told Charles McCary of K8 News. "I want to play my whole career in L.A. I love it there. I love the fans. Love the weather, love the golf. And obviously the Lakers are the best organization in basketball."
The Lakers seem to share Reaves' enthusiasm, as Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times previously reported they'd only have interest in a Reaves trade if they brought back a "foundationally important" center. However, that's obviously not the same thing as making him outright off-limits.
Given L.A.'s need for a center, more wing defenders and general depth, plus its overall lack of trade chips, it might need a Reaves deal to better balance the roster around Luka Dončić and LeBron James. Let's fire up the trade machine, then, to identify landing spots and sample swaps to send Reaves elsewhere.
Since we're already working against Reaves' wishes by shipping him away from L.A., we're at least looking to find (and rank!) his best fits among teams with trade packages that could realistically pry him away from the Purple and Gold.
To rank these potential suitors, we're weighing everything from fit in terms of play style and roster, the potential to expand his role and, where possible, his chances to compete for something of significance.
5. Toronto Raptors
1 of 5
Potential trade
Toronto Raptors receive: Austin Reaves and Maxi Kleber
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Jakob Poeltl
After adding Brandon Ingram at the deadline, it sounds like the Raptors have the appetite for another significant swap. HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported the Raptors "[have] been quietly trying to make a swing for a star player," while NBA insider Jake Fischer added Toronto has weighed moving RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley or Poeltl in a blockbuster exchange.
The Raptors clearly think they might have something in the Ingram-Scottie Barnes tandem. What they don't have enough of, though, is spacers around their stars and perimeter scoring.
Reaves, a career 37 percent three-point shooter who just crested 20 points per night for the first time, would help address those issues. And the fact he's managed to add value while operating alongside ball-dominant stars in L.A. means he could supply those upgrades without getting in the way of Barnes and Ingram.
Poeltl isn't the high-flyer that Purple and Gold fans might envision at the 5 spot, but he's a rock-solid defender and crafty pick-and-roll screener. He hasn't converted fewer than 61 percent of his field goals since his rookie year, and he's one of only six players with at least 2,500 rebounds and 400 blocks to show for the past five seasons.
4. Utah Jazz
2 of 5
Potential trade
Utah Jazz receive: Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht and a 2030 first-round pick swap (top-three-protected)
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton and the No. 43 pick
If the Jazz are fully committed to seeing out a lengthy rebuild, then a 27-year-old Reaves might hold little appeal to them. Remember, though, just last summer they gave Lauri Markkanen (who turned 28 last month) a five-year, $238 million extension. And part of the reason he made that commitment was "an understanding ... that the Jazz would have a timely turn toward competing," per ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
Now, granted, Utah, which just lost a franchise-record 65 games, isn't an Austin Reaves away from being competitive. That said, the Jazz have additional assets—and they'd grow that collection in this trade—to make more win-now moves if that's their aim.
Markkanen was an All-Star two seasons back and was nearly as productive in 2023-24. While his volume and efficiency plummeted this past season, a big part of the problem may have been his lack of support. Reaves would help alleviate that problem, and if Knecht could engineer a leap year, he'd do the same.
The Jazz would open a hole on the interior in this trade, but the addition of Vanderbilt would at least give them more defensive resistance away from the basket. And, again, they could work the trade market to fill that void—and they'd have a big enough budget to target a substantial upgrade over Kessler.
L.A., meanwhile, has clear interest in Kessler, an impact shot-blocker and high-end rebounder with a 68.0 career field-goal percentage. The Lakers could also offset some of the scoring void left by Reaves by adding Sexton, and they'd pick up another throw at the dart board with that mid-second-rounder.
3. New Orleans Pelicans
3 of 5
Potential trade
New Orleans Pelicans receive: Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Nic Claxton and Cameron Johnson
Brooklyn Nets receive: C.J. McCollum, Dalton Knecht, a 2026 first-round pick (lottery-protected, via NOP), a 2029 first-round pick (top-five-protected, via NOP) and a 2031 first-round pick (via LAL)
Let's start with an admission: The Pelicans might take a blowtorch to their roster this summer. As Kevin O'Connor reported at Yahoo Sports, "There are no untouchables in New Orleans."
However, that was merely the headline-grabbing portion of O'Connor's report, which also noted the Pelicans "very well could end up keeping their core pieces." Maybe their new front office wants to see whether this core could finally catch a break from the injury bug. Talent hasn't been this team's issue; availability has.
By adding Reaves, Hachimura and Vincent (and keeping the No. 7 pick), New Orleans would have a chance to expand its talent base. Reaves could share primary playmaking duties with a (hopefully) healthy Zion Williamson until Dejounte Murray makes it back from his torn Achilles. Then, the Pels would have three plus-playmakers in their lineup and either a pair of three-and-D forwards (some combo of Trey Murphy III, Herbert Jones and Hachimura) or one of those wings with a rim-running center (Yves Missi).
That's a deep group on paper, plus the Pels would still have the flexibility to add more. They'd also get a full year to see whether Reaves fits with their nucleus—at 27 years old, he's at least a timeline fit—before deciding whether to cover the cost of his likely 2026 free agency.
The Lakers, meanwhile, would get their own rim-running big in Claxton, plus a high-end shooter with some flexibility on defense in Johnson. The Nets would add to their pick collection, add a sweet-shooting prospect in Knecht and hope McCollum can pile up enough points between October and February to become a viable trade target of a scoring-starved deadline shopper.
2. Detroit Pistons
4 of 5
Potential trade
Detroit Pistons receive: Austin Reaves
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Jalen Duren, Simone Fontecchio and the No. 37 pick
A playoff breakthrough should have the Pistons giddy about their future. They might still want to accelerate, though, given the obvious readiness of All-Star Cade Cunningham, the lack of an obvious co-star for him (a healthy Jaden Ivey wouldn't necessarily fill that void) and the wide-open nature of the Eastern Conference.
Could they see Reaves as the missing piece of their offensive puzzle? They have to at least consider it. Other than Cunningham, they didn't have anyone average even 16 points in their first-round loss to the New York Knicks. Reaves, who's had a tendency to slow down in the postseason, has averaged better than 16 points in all three of his career playoff trips.
Reaves is a good enough shooter to share the floor with Cunningham and a clever enough creator to keep the offense moving without him. The fact Reaves is a plus-shooter from distance should look especially appealing to Detroit, since there are non-shooters in its young core (Ausar Thompson, Ronald Holland II) and net-shredders among its free agents (Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr.).
Only the Lakers know whether Duren qualifies as the impact big they're after, but they did give him a look before the deadline. With his bounce and underrated vision, he could be a dream pick-and-roll partner with L.A.'s creators. Fontecchio struggled this past season, but he was a dead-eye shooter in 2023-24 (134 threes at a 40.1 percent clip).
1. Dallas Mavericks
5 of 5
Potential trade
Dallas Mavericks receive: Austin Reaves and Shake Milton
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Dereck Lively II and P.J. Washington
The Mavericks need a ball-handler to hold things over while Kyrie Irving recovers from his ACL tear and a support scorer to slot alongside a healthy Irving and Anthony Davis. Few players who are realistically connected to the trade market would better check both boxes than Reaves.
Even as a third option in L.A., he's already established himself as an efficient 20-point scorer while also putting a healthy amount of separation between his averages in assists (5.8) and turnovers (2.4). It's certainly possible his playmaking could elevate if utilized in a more featured role (even if only temporarily), and he'd have the added bonus of having established chemistry with Davis, due to their time together in L.A.
The Lakers would need to decide whether Lively qualifies as the impact big they're after, but save for some injury issues, his first two seasons have been true head-turners. And since he spent a season-plus with Dončić in Dallas, Lively might hit the ground running in L.A. Washington, meanwhile, has the same connection with Dončić and could bring both defensive versatility and shot-making to the perimeter group.
Both fanbases might gripe about losing the players involved—Milton, for the record, would merely make the money work—but that usually just means a trade holds win-win potential.
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