Lakers Should Trade Austin Reaves to Fill Void at Center amid Latest NBA Rumors
The Los Angeles Lakers search for a new starting center is about to get painful.
Or perhaps it already is.
The Lakers, of course, have already lost all leverage here, since the entire NBA knows they have a glaring void at the center position. And since they don't have many great trade assets to begin with, potential trade partners will be out to take L.A. for everything it's worth.
Yes, that means requests for Austin Reaves are coming or maybe are already being communicated. And while the Lakers "have shown no indication they're going to trade Austin Reaves," as Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times said on the Dan Patrick Show, that's a stance they have to rethink.
Immediately.
That's where the painful portion of this process lies. Reaves is a smashing success for L.A.'s developmental program. He went from being an undrafted rookie to becoming a full-time starter in only four NBA seasons and most recently served as the third-leading scorer and distributor on the Lakers' 50-win team.
The Lakers shouldn't want to lose him. As Woike added, "they believe in Austin Reaves." Perhaps just as significant, Woike included the fact that "Luka Dončić believes in Austin Reaves."
That stuff matters. For perhaps as long as Dončić remains draped in Purple and Gold, the Lakers must weigh every move they could potentially make through the lens of its direct impact on him.
And that's why Reaves has to go.
Not because his fit with Dončić is wholly untenable—as Woike observed, Dončić has enjoyed some of his greatest successes alongside other offense-first guards like Kyrie Irving and Jalen Brunson—but rather that Dončić has a bigger need for the kind of impact center Reaves (and only Reaves) can return in a trade.
The Lakers can only afford to dream so big with their limited, non-Reaves trade budget. Dalton Knecht, a future first-round pick and salary-filler is bringing back only dismissive laughter if put on the table in pursuit of potential targets like Jalen Duren, Onyeka Okongwu or Walker Kessler, all of whom Woike mentioned as players he thinks they'll go after.
Add Reaves to the offer, though, and suddenly they aren't getting shooed away from the negotiating table. Cade Cunningham, Trae Young and Lauri Markkanen are all in rather serious need of perimeter scoring help. Reaves, who just pumped in an efficient 20.2 points per game on 46/37.7/87.7 shooting, can provide that.
Is that enough to pry one of those promising young post players loose? Who knows? What feels certain, though, is that exactly none of those players are remotely possible to get without Reaves.
What could the Lakers get without letting go of Reaves? That's tough to tell. Mark Williams, maybe. Nic Claxton, perhaps. Robert Williams III, probably.
But if the Lakers wanted Mark Williams, they could've had him (without losing Reaves). Claxton is coming off a down year and doesn't offer the kind of size needed to combat the behemoths that could be standing between L.A. and a title run. Robert Williams III has made all of 61 appearances over the past three seasons combined.
These are, at best, imperfect solutions to a pressing problem. The center position might still loom as a potentially fatal flaw for this roster.
That's why the Lakers must reconsider Reaves' availability. And this is all without mentioning that the guard is very much a flight risk in 2026 free agency, so L.A. could potentially keep him around now only to lose him for nothing in one year.
As talented as he is, Reaves feels a bit like a luxury for the Lakers. His playmaking, perimeter scoring and slashing all help this group, but he's an offense-first (borderline offense-only) contributor on a team where he's the third offensive option. He might make L.A. better at the things it already does well, but he's powerless to address this team's deficiencies.
If the Lakers want to actually cure what ails them, trading Reaves for an impact center is the one way to make that happen—as much as it might sting in the moment.
