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 Reaves.
Without Austin Reaves, the Lakers simply don’t have enough highly coveted players or draft capital to trade for the elite rim protecting defensive center and the quality point-of-attack perimeter defender they need to contend. The Lakers’ current trading chips include their 2031 first round pick, $40.1 million in Hachimura, Vincent, and Kleber’s expiring contracts, last year’s #17 draft pick Dalton Knecht, and their 2026, 2028, 2030, 2032 pick swaps.
Besides being their most valuable trading chip, Austin Reaves will be eligible to sign a 4-year $89 million extension this summer. Reports are he will decline that offer and seek over $30 million per year as a free agent. While the last thing the Lakers want to do is trade a budding home-grown star on a team friendly contract, their need to optimize LeBron’s last years and to convince Luka to sign an extension may require trading Reaves.
The Lakers will open next year as a team under the first apron. Assuming they send out as much salary as the bring back, they should finish the season under the first apron and be able to use the $14.1 million NT MLE.
For the Lakers need to have room under the first apron player to be able to use the NT MLE, they would need LeBron James would have to accept less than the max salary next season, which is something he offered last year.
The Lakers say they would only trade Reaves for a foundational player. Here are 6 blockbuster Austin Reaves trades the Lakers should seriously consider if they want to create a path to win the championship this year.
AUSTIN REAVES, 6′ 5″, 197 lbs, 26-years old, $13.9M/yr
20.2 pts, 4.5 rebs, 5.8 asts, 0.3 blk, 1.1 stls in 34.9 mpg
Shooting 14.2/7.3/5.0 shots for 46.0/37.7/87.7%
1. JAREN JACKSON JR.
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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 defend in space with his quickness.
Grizzlies get a budding superstar in Austin Reaves who can shoot the three, playmake for his teammates, and has not yet gotten close to his ultimate ceiling. He is exactly what Memphis needs in a smart, savvy point guard.
JAREN JACKSON JR, 6′ 10″, 242 lbs, 25-years old, $23.4M/yr
22.2 pts, 5.6 rebs, 2.0 asts, 1.5 blk, 1.2 stls in 29.8 mpg
Shooting 15.4/5.3/5.4 shots for 48.8/37.5/78.1%
2. WALKER KESSLER & COLLIN SEXTON
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Lakers 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 as the team’s 6th man and backup point.
Jazz get best player in the trade in Austin Reaves and the only Lakers player who would tempt Danny Ainge to trade Kessler to the Lakers. Jazz also get L.A.’s unprotected 2031 pick and 1–4 protection off of Lakers 2027 pick.
COLLIN SEXTON, 6′ 3″, 190 lbs, 26-years old, $19.2M/yr
18.4 pts, 2.7 rebs, 4.2 asts, 0.1 blk, 0.7 stls in 27.9 mpg
Shooting 13.8/4.3/4.0 shots for 48.0/40.6/86.5%
WALKER KESSLER, 7′ 0″, 245 lbs, 23-years old, $4.9M/yr
11.1 pts, 12.2 rebs, 1.7 asts, 2.4 blk, 0.6 stls in 30.0 mpg
Shooting 7.2/0.6/2.6 shots for 68.0/17.6/52.0%
3. LUGUENTZ DORT
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Lakers 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 40% volume 3-point shooter.
Austin Reaves, much like Alex Caruso, is one of those special players who can survive the Thunders’ deluge of draft picks. Reaves and Dort are due extensions. Reaves’ offense is great fit for OKC as Dort’s defense is for L.A.
LUGUENNTZ DORT, 6′ 4″, 220 lbs, 26-years old, $17.7M/yr
10.1 pts, 4.1 rebs, 1.6 asts, 0.5 blk, 1.1 stls in 29.2 mpg
Shooting 8.4/5.8/0.6 shots for 43.5/41.2/71.7%
4. JRUE HOLIDAY
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Lakers 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 on Jrue’s bad contract.
Austin Reaves gives the Celtics a replacement for point guard Jrue Holiday who’s 8 years younger and $20 million per year cheaper plus an opportunity to save $18.3 million by allowing Rui Hachimura’s big contract to expire.
JRUE HOLIDAY, 6′ 4″, 205 lbs, 34-years old, $32.4M/yr
11.1 pts, 4.3 rebs, 3.9 asts, 0.4 blk, 1.1 stls in 30.6 mpg
Shooting 9.2/4.9/1.2 shots for 44.3/35.3/90.0%
5. DENI AVDIJA & ROBERT WILLIAMS III
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Lakers 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 become L.A.’s new starting center.
Blazers get best player in the trade in Austin Reaves, who would be a perfect mentor for 21-year old Scoot Henderson, and an immediate replacement at power forward for Deni Avdija in Rui Hachimura.
DENI AVDIJA, 6′ 9″, 240 lbs, 24-years old, $14.4M/yr
16.9 pts, 7.3 rebs, 3.9 asts, 0.5 blk, 1.0 stls in 30.0 mpg
Shooting 11.7/4.8/5.2 shots for 47.6/36.5/78.0%
ROBERT WILLIAMS III, 6′ 9″, 249 lbs, 27-years old, $13.3M/yr
5.8 pts, 5.9 rebs, 1.1 asts, 1.7 blk, 0.7 stls in 17.6 mpg
Shooting 3.9/0.2/0.9 shots for 64.1/33.3/88.2%
6. JONATHAN ISAAC & GOGA BITADZE
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Lakers 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 together they would be a great center rotation.
Magic get a second star point guard and 3-point shooter in Austin Reaves and a potentially elite sharp-shooting wing in young Dalton Knecht. Magic would waive Shake Milton as he is just salary filler to make trade work.
JONATHAN ISAAC, 6′ 10″, 230 lbs, 27-years old, $15.0M/yr
5.4 pts, 4.4 rebs, 0.6 asts, 1.1 blk, 0.9 stls in 15.4 mpg
Shooting 4.6/2.1/1.5 shots for 41.4/25.8/68.2%
GOGA BITADZE, 6′ 10″, 250 lbs, 25-years old, $8.3M/yr
7.2 pts, 6.6 rebs, 2.0 asts, 1.4 blk, 0.7 stls in 20.4 mpg
Shooting 4.8/0.4/1.9 shots for 61.1/10.7/63.9%
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?
And remember, JJ didn’t give Hayes much of a chance.
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.
Good analysis, Jamie. It all comes down to how much another team covets Austin Reaves. It only takes one general manager who thinks trading for Reaves could be his legendary move. Truthfully, it’s not impossible. Reaves ceiling is hard to predict. His problem with the Lakers is just his fit with Luka. There are a lot of teams out there who would love to have Austin Reaves. He s/b the BAIT.
Ironically, I don’t think OKC is out of the question. The problem they have is they have 3 full rotations worth of first round picks coming in the next 10 years. They’re going to have to trade some pretty impressive players just because of the numbers. They have 3 first rounders this year. They’re going to struggle with continuity too with so many high picks. Great problem to have but the net is they’re going to have to chose 15 out of a pool of maybe 50 picks. Dort could easily be one of the 35 who get moved.
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.
“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.”
Exactly. As soon as next summer it sounds like so now you’re really talking about a one year rental unless you’re pretty dang sure you would ink him to that deal.
$30 mil is an interesting ceiling in the NBA. You’re expected to contribute…but not lead. You’re expected to impact winning…but not dominate. AR checks a lot of those boxes but can get bullied in the playoffs, as we’ve seen.
I’m not 100% sure he’ll get that coveted $30 mil but his agent seems solid so who knows.