Instead of chasing big name stars with bigger salaries, the Lakers would be wise to trade Austin Reaves, four one-way players, and a first round pick for four affordable two-way rising stars who better complement Luka Doncic.
The Lakers have an opportunity to trade five one-way players in Reaves, Hachimura, Knecht, Vincent, and Kleber and a first round pick for four young two-way guards and wings in Wiggins, Murray, Mitchell, and Ellis. The trade would let the Lakers to do for Doncic what the Thunder did for Gilgeous-Alexander by surrounding their young superstar point guard with multiple young, long, physical defenders instead of a high paid superstar.
For practical purposes, the last CBA killed the ‘Three Superstar’ model and the current CBA is working to do the same to the ‘Two Superstar’ model. The Lakers need to copy OKC’s ‘One Superstar’ roster building blueprint.
It’s near impossible to build a championship team with multiple max salary players under the new CBA. The punitive taxes and competitive penalties have basically hard capped 3 teams at second apron and 17 at first apron.
Unless Antetokounmpo or Jokic want to force their way to the Lakers, Pelinka should focusing on using their tradable young talent and draft capital to acquire affordable young two-way players to optimize Luka.
Rob’s three biggest trading chips are Austin Reaves, who could be worth as much as three draft picks for the right team, their unprotected first round draft pick, and more than $40 million in tradable expiring contracts.
The Lakers don’t need Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic. They need to copy the Thunder’s ‘One Superstar’ blueprint for a talented deep, diverse, young team with defensive game-changing speed, length, and athleticism.
THE BLOCKBUSTER LAKERS TRADE
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This proposed blockbuster trade has the Lakers sending Reaves and Knecht to the Kings for Murray and Ellis and sending Hachimura, Vincent, Kleber, and an unprotected first round pick to the Heat for Wiggins and Mitchell.
In total, the Lakers are sending out five players earning $58.8 million per year, bringing back four players earning $53.4 million per year, leaving the them with $5.4 million under first apron to fill their two open roster spots.
The blockbuster trade would transform the Lakers from a second tier Western Conference team heavily loaded with one-way offensive players to a first tier West team with excellent balance between offense and defense.
The only problem with the proposed trade is that Mitchell is not eligible to be traded until January 15th, which could mean the Lakers make the Kings trade before season starts and wait until January to make the Heat trade.
Hopefully, Reaves and Knecht would satisfy the Kings and Hachimura, Vincent, Kleber, and an unprotected first would be enough for the Heat. If not, the Lakers could sweeten their offer with a swap or second round pick.
While trading Reaves would be a hard pill for the fans to swallow, the Lakers would still be able to offer two first round picks next summer on draft day and a trade could realistically end up helping Austin’s career.
The problem is Reaves has simply outplayed and outgrew his job with the Lakers. It’ll be interesting to see how he would do as a team’s #1 or #2 star since he averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists as #3 option.
The Lakers get four young promising two-way players, the Kings get a young rising star in Austin Reaves to build around, and the Heat get an unprotected first round pick and over $40 million in expiring contracts.
WHY LOS ANGELES LAKERS MAKE TRADE
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The Lakers make the trade because it lets them surround their superstar point guard Luka Doncic with a deep, talented two-way roster like the Thunder did with their superstar point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Before the blockbuster trade, Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt were probably the only two Lakers good enough on defense to be classified as legitimate two-way players. The rest were all one-way offensive players.
With the trade, the Lakers were able to add four young, budding two-way point-of-attack players with all-defensive potential in wings Andrew Wiggins and Keegan Murray and guards Keon Ellis and Davion Mitchell.
The Lakers post-trade nine-man rotation would include superstars Doncic and James, starting center Ayton surrounded by six defense-first two-way guards/wings in Smart, Vanderbilt, Wiggins, Murray, Ellis, and Mitchell.
The trade would leave the Lakers with 13 players and cap space under the first apron to sign a minimum salary third power forward and center, though they’d be limited to minimum salary players like Kevin Love.
Trading a beloved home grown star like Austin Reaves is just the team’s brain overruling its heart. As great as Austin is as a player and teammate, he’s more valuable to the Lakers right now as trading chip than third star.
Doncic and Reaves might become a championship backcourt given time but right now Austin is obviously not the ideal defensive fit with Luka and the Lakers need to cash in his two-plus-draft-picks value as a trading chip.
Bottom line, the Lakers make the trade because surrounding Luka Doncic with players who can shoot the three and defend multiple positions is the proven blueprint for how teams win championships in today’s NBA.
WHY SACRAMENTO KINGS MAKE TRADE
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The Kings make the trade because Austin Reaves gives them what they do not have, which is a legitimate high-character, highly-coveted rising young star whom they could build around or flip later for valuable draft capital.
The sad reality is the Sacramento Kings are the worst run franchise in the NBA. They’ve made the playoffs just once in last 20 years and won their only championship 75 years ago in 1951 as the Rochester Royals of NY.
The Kings should immediately go into full tank mode as they’re stuck with a 2-year $95 million untradable contract for 30-year old Zach LaVine and 2-year $50 million untradable contract for 36-year old DeMar DeRozan.
Realistically, the Kings would be smart to consider accelerating their tanking and rebuilding by waiving and stretching LaVine and DeRozan like the Milwaukee Bucks did with Lillard and the Phoenix Suns did with Beal.
Trading for Reaves this summer could then put the Kings in great position to possibly flip Austin at the deadline as his trade value could soar as high as three first round picks for a contender desperate for a major upgrade.
The Kings should firmly commit to a total tank and complete rebuild before the season starts. They should trade Murray and Ellis for Reaves and Knecht and then start Schroder, Reaves, Clifford, Raynaud, and Sabonis.
Besides improving their odds of landing a high pick in what should be a stellar 2026 NBA Draft, the Kings would give their fans a fresh new look with an exciting young team led by Austin Reaves and Domantas Sabonis.
The Kings make the trade for Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht because it gives them a legitimate rising young star in Reaves to pair with Domantas Sabonis in a partial rebuild or to flip for more picks in a complete rebuild.
WHY MIAMI HEAT MAKE TRADE
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The Miami Heat make the trade because they get an unprotected Lakers’ first round pick, $40 million in expiring contracts to open up valuable cap space, and three new players whose 3-point shooting creates spacing.
Pat Riley has major decisions to make regarding the Heat’s plans going forward after last season’s Jimmy Butler fiasco. Like the Kings, the Heat are also projected to further slide down the Eastern Conference standings.
While Miami is unlikely to do a total rebuild, the Heat needed to move on from Andrew Wiggins. Giving up a talented but small Davion Mitchell hurts but getting back three quality rotation players and a pick eases the pain.
What Riley needs more than anything at this point in time is optionality. He gets three players whom he can re-sign, flip in a trade at the deadline, or let walk for nothing to create space under the first apron to sign free agents.
The Heat currently own tradable 2026, 2028, 2030, and 2032 first round picks, which means they could offer a total of five first round draft picks should Giannis become available at the trade deadline or next summer.
The challenge for the Heat in trading for Antetokounmpo or any max contract superstar is being able to hold onto Adebayo and still come up with enough in tradable salaries to match Giannis’ $60 million per year.
While there will be major competition to trade for Antetokounmpo, the Heat understand that they’re going to need more than the four first round picks they have if they’re going to be a legitimate contender to sign him.
The Heat make the trade because Vincent, Hachimura, and Kleber make their roster more versatile and competitive and the Lakers’ unprotected first round pick allows Miami to improve a potential offer for Giannis.
I don’t do X…
Hard to see Miami trading for what amounts to an elite role-player (whom they need to turn around and re-sign, trade or lose for nothing which usually isn’t a smart move unless there’s a plan for a specific free agent and with Giannis decidedly not mentioning any team but the Knicks it’s even harder to see him going (and wanting to stay in) Miami. Cow Town maybe, maybe makes this trade, and they’re probably winning the trade because they also get a young shooter and a pick while not giving up much of anything at all. But the real reason this wont happen are the already injured Smart (Achilles nerve issue) and LeBron (sciatica). This is not unexpected, theyre both old, and that makes Reaves and his iron man availability a real asset for us. He and Rui have a habit of leading the team in, what should be considered the penultimate stat: Availability.
Mainly I just don’t see why any of the teams make this trade when they can get more draft picks from just about any other team. In today’s NBA one pick doesn’t get you much, whatever the protections are, and we’re talking about some quality players here.
Toss in the fact that Reaves and Rui are two of our most consistently available players and this is another trade I give a thumbs down to.
Tom has gone full clickbait practitioner 🙂 There is no way the Kings would do that trade. They would like to move on from their old heads, to start a rebuild. No way they trade their young and up and coming players. Besides the Kings already have DeRozen, LaVine, Monk and Dennis. Why in the world would they do that trade?