Lakers’ Only Path To Championship Will Require Trading Austin Reaves After their sorry first round exit and the playoff surge by a new guard of younger NBA teams and players, the Lakers must accept their only realistic championship path left will probably require trading Austin… pic.twitter.com/BKeoAtKpsq— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 27, 2025

Lakers’ Only Path To Championship Will Require Trading Austin Reaves 1. JAREN JACKSON JR.Lakers get elite former DPOY as the perfect modern NBA center in Jaren Jackson, Jr., who can stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting and protect the rim with his shot blocking and… pic.twitter.com/FJrhhzSXDd— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 27, 2025

Lakers’ Only Path To Championship Will Require Trading Austin Reaves 2. WALKER KESSLER & COLLIN SEXTONLakers get the young bruising, rim protecting center in Walker Kessler to pair with Luka Doncic and a young sharp-shooting point guard in Collin Sexton to come off the bench… pic.twitter.com/tn1dkfMpJ4— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 27, 2025

Lakers’ Only Path To Championship Will Require Trading Austin Reaves 3. LUGUENTZ DORTLakers get elite two-way point-of-attack defensive guard Luguentz Dort to replace one-way point guard Austin Reaves and pair with Luka Doncic in their backcourt of the future. Dort is also a… pic.twitter.com/RLMHHhF2zv— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 27, 2025

Lakers’ Only Path To Championship Will Require Trading Austin Reaves 4. JRUE HOLIDAYLakers get elite two-way point-of-attack defensive guard Jrue Holiday to replace one-way point guard Austin Reaves and pair with Luka Doncic in backcourt. Lakers also get 2 seconds for taking… pic.twitter.com/Nc47zgdFg5— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 27, 2025

Lakers’ Only Path To Championship Will Require Trading Austin Reaves 5. DENI AVDIJA & ROBERT WILLIAMS IIILakers get two-way player Deni Avdija to replace one-way player Rui Hachimura at starting power forward and dynamic but injury prone two-way center Robert Williams III to… pic.twitter.com/T88sTdgctR— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 27, 2025

Lakers’ Only Path To Championship Will Require Trading Austin Reaves 6. JONATHAN ISAAC & GOGA BITADZELakers get two elite defensive big men who can protect the rim and defend in space in power forward Jonathan Isaac and center Goga Bitadze. Both can play the 4 and 5 and… pic.twitter.com/6VVm8K4cnQ— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 27, 2025

I’m not sure the only path is the right way to describe the situation but, hey, that’s just me, I guess lol.

I think the Lakers need to be patient in this moment, that a knee-jerk trade that breaks up a highly promising core that played less than half a season together is not the correct path forward.

If there’s a trade that can be made involving Shake, Kleber or Vando…sure. Those guys didn’t seem essential to what we wanted to do although I’m loathe to ship out Vando’s D for a one-dimensional scorer.

Trade #1: I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that the Griz are trading JJJ. He’s too good, more durable than Ja and is more in-line with the traditional Grizzly team ID. They’re nowhere close to being capped out and, even though they have promising young players at the 5 in Edey and Aldama, often roll with JJJ at the 5. it’s not beyond reason that they look to play either Aldama or Edey with JJJ, as well. Especially for that meager haul.

Trade #2: Won’t happen in the summer. Trader Danny will hold onto Kessler as long as he wants (if they don’t extend him themselves whish is smart for all sides involved as it drives up what they can get in return for him and he makes more money/signs for more years) and the Lakers don’t have the assets for the overpay. Reaves, while nice, isn’t a potential #1 draft pick and we’re not going to be sniffing that level of bad for a while now. Walker is also the one, true center they have.

Also, neither Sexton or Kessler is a good fit with Luka. Even if you can flip Sexton for a less ball-dominant player, or move him to the bench, you have to re-sign both or lose out on potential next summer. Just don’t see this as a smart move. Or a move Ainge would sign off on.

Trade #3: This is your best trade here by a country mile and actually could have a chance of succeeding. My only hesitancy is Jrue’s advanced age and the fact that he’s a very inconsistent 3 point shooter. Are you getting 40+% Jrue from two season’s ago or 35% shooter from this season? His timeline syncs up more with LeBron’s than Luka’s is the other issue, albeit a minor one.

Also, this puts Boston in the position of losing out on talent without getting much draft capital, just more players they need to re-sign or let walk. I’m not too sure this trade makes a lot of sense from Boston’s standpoint. They need to bring back non-guaranteed contracts, players that they can trade into someone’s extra cap space, and draft picks so they can have cost-controlled players in the here and now. Of course, so, to, do the Lakers so…

Trade #4: Thunder ain’t trading Dort who has helped them get to the very cusp of a very likely NBA Final’s berth and could help them win it all for the first time. They also have a very affordable team option for him after next season, not sure they’re the business of throwing money away for player’s they’ll need to turn around a re-sign for more when they’re fairly close to being capped out as-is. Ain’t happening. better off cobbling a Caruso trade together.

Trade #5: Not sure what the fascination is for other team’s hot garbage, broken down players but let’s just say I was not surprised to see the 653rd Time Lord trade get dropped on this list. Also, saying Rui is a one-way player is insane. He’s our 3rd or 4th best defender and hits 3’s at 40+% clip two years running. You’re trading the two better players…by far…for one broken down husk and someone you hope figures out how to play in the NBA. Hard pass on anything relating to Time Lord other than picking him up off the waiver wire.

Trade #6: See the Grizz. They hold all the cards in the John Isaac deal. He’s basically a “Get under the Cap Now” card in Monopoly and you’re sending them players they already have an ample amount of that puts them right at the cap (technically just below it, I know, but they won’t have much wiggle room once they trade Isacc unless they want to tweak the core).

It’s arguable that none of the players we’re trading them would crack the magic starting 5 with Reaves likely being the first guard off the bench, assuming Suggs comes back. Plus, as above with Portland, not too sure I want to give up guys that have shown they can withstand an entire NBA season for a guy who assuredly cannot. His 71 games played last season was great but I’m not too sure I’d bet all of that young talent on his knees. Goga is a player you can find almost anywhere I feel like. He averaged a career high in minutes and played…well. He upped his minutes from 15.4 to 20.4 and averaged .2 more blocks. Not mind-blowing. Where he shined was the offensive glass but we got a player in Vando that does well there. Not too sure either fits into Luka’s game as well as guys we already have.

I’d make the Boston trade because it’s a win-now move. Not sure Boston would but if I had the choice of pulling that trigger I’d do it. Jrue, when right, is a game-changing defender and presence a la Rajon Rondo. if you can get him for that price I think you have to make that move.

Other than that I think I just don’t see the other team making that move (Memphis, OKC, Utah) or I don’t like the players we get back more than the players we’re shipping out (Portland, Orlando). If you remove Reaves or Rui and substitute other, much worse players…now we’re talking. But why would the other team(s) go that route?

WOULD PACERS WANT REAVES OR KUMINGA?If Indiana can't come to an agreement with Myles Turner over a new contract ( he wants $30M), then Lakers should have a better young star to offer in Reaves than the Warriors in Kuminga, who can't even get regular rotation minutes in Golden… https://t.co/NRO5tWjYAh pic.twitter.com/Vq0WRaj992— LakerTom (@LakerTom) May 28, 2025

The same reason we covet guys like JJJ, Dort, & Kessler is the same reason why their teams won’t easily give them up and why the competition to get them will be intense.

Jrue..to old & too expensive; he’s not the same guy who was integral to those Bucks/Celtics titles.

Williams…hell no.

Isaac/Bitadze…solid; not sure if it’s enough to put us over the top in the playoffs. It’s a different game.

Gotta remember this too..AR will cost $30mill/yr very soon. That salary is gonna be hard to swallow for teams looking to cut payroll.

Jaxson Hayes? Dude was a starter for about half the season and couldn’t stay on the floor against Gobert. he ha his chance and he kinda blew it.

I like Hayes, a lot actually, and think he could end up as a JaVale McGee type of player, maybe, if he can improve on his footwork, but the dude has a hard time against any above average center. Currently.