Bottom line, the Los Angeles Lakers are an elite starting 3&D wing and legitimate backup rim-protecting center from being a legitimate contender for the 2026 NBA championship and must immediately fix those issues.
We sometimes forget as Rob Pelinka dings us to death with moves on the margin that the Lakers always think big. Remember the JJ Redick, Luka Doncic, and Mark Walter transactions that transformed the franchise? What I’m hoping is the Lakers continue these bold sweeping moves and pull off a blockbuster late offseason or midseason trade to land an elite 3&D starting wing and alpha shot-blocking backup defensive center.
The immediate question is how then are the Lakers going to pull off this blockbuster trade for two impactful players? We already know Pelinka has been reluctant for good reason to trade their only first round draft pick.
The benefit of retaining their only first round pick is it would allow the Lakers to offer three first round picks in a mega trade next draft day when superstars Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo could be available.
The solution that lets the Lakers trade for the elite 3&D starting wing and alpha shot-blocking backup center they need and still keep their draft capital is trading Austin Reaves, who’s worth at least two first round picks.
Trading Reaves would be a bold move but would also eliminate the risk of overpaying him based on the team’s need or losing him for nothing in free agency. Opportunity knocks: now is the time to cash in on Austin Reaves.
Trading Austin Reaves now is the smart move that will enable the Lakers to land their needed elite starting 3&D wing and alpha backup rim protecting center to dramatically improve their defense without sacrificing the future.
1. Trade for Andrew Wiggins and Mitchell Robinson
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The New York Knicks are at a crossroads with injury-prone talented backup center Mitchell Robinson who wants a $60-70 million extension and with a Jalen Brunson dominated offense that needs to become more diverse.
Enter the Los Angeles Lakers with a blockbuster offer of Austin Reaves, the perfect backcourt mate for Jalen Brunson, in return for Mitchell Robinson, Jordan Clarkson, and the Knicks 2026 unprotected first round draft pick.
The Lakers then move the Knicks’ first round pick to the Heat along with Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber, and Dalton Knecht for Andrew Wiggins. The Lakers add three players plus an open roster spot and save $4.2 million.
The Lakers give up 4 players including Austin Reaves, the best player in the trade, in return for 3 players, including the needed elite 3&D starting wing Andrew Wiggins and alpha shot-blocking backup center Mitchell Robinson. The trade cannot be completed until October 7th when Jordan Clarkson becomes eligible to be traded. Clarkson is the bonus on the trade as the former 6MOY would be a massive offensive upgrade coming off the bench.
The Knicks avoid the risk of overpaying an injury-prone older Mitchell Robinson or losing him to free agency for nothing and are able to land the perfect backcourt mate in Austin Reaves to share Jalen Brunson’s workload.
Landing Reaves, whose value is considered to between two and three first round picks gives the Knicks the ability to be multi-dimensional on offense and not to overwork Brunson, especially during the long regular season.
The Lakers go all-in before season to win the NBA championship by trading Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber, and Dalton Knecht for Heat’s Andrew Wiggins and Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson and Jordan Clarkson.
2. Trade for Herb Jones and Robert Williams III
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The New Orleans Pelicans are a mess. Zion Williamson can’t stay healthy, Brandon Ingram has been traded, and this is likely the season that decides whether the Pelicans ultimately give up and commit to a complete rebuild.
On July 15, the Pelicans rewarded All-Defensive First Team Herb Jones by giving him an team friendly 3-year $68 million extension to the 2-year $28 million left on his contract, essentially making him a coveted trade target.
In many ways, what the Pelicans have successfully done with Herb Jones is what the Lakers unfortunately failed to accomplish with Jarred Vanderbilt, which is transform a backup POA wing into a legitimate starting 3&D wing.
Enter the Lakers with a blockbuster offer of Austin Reaves for Herb Jones and a second round pick with Reaves as the perfect dynamic young star to give Zion and the Pelicans a last realistic shot to become a winning team.
The Lakers then move the Pelican’s second round pick along with Maxi Kleber and Dalton Knecht to the Trailblazers for Robert Williams III, who would then become the team’s alpha rim-protecting backup center.
The Lakers give up 3 players including Austin Reaves, the best player in the trade, in return for 2 players, including the needed elite 3&D starting wing Herb Jones and alpha shot-blocking backup center Robert Williams III.
The trade cannot be completed until January 15th, when Herb Jones becomes eligible to be traded. The Lakers would also have to make another midseason trade to open up cap space under the first apron to add players.
The Lakers go all-in at trade deadline to win the 2026 NBA championship trading home-grown star Austin Reaves, Maxi Kleber, and Dalton Knecht for the Pelicans’ Herb Jones and the Trailblazers’ Robert Williams III.
This was a great read, and I think Jamie makes a fair point in questioning why the Knicks would even consider this deal. Personally, I would not trade AR for Mitchell Robinson. He simply doesn’t stay on the court consistently, as he’s often injured. To me, it doesn’t make sense to give up AR for someone so unreliable, especially since Robinson doesn’t bring much scoring power and we’d be depleting a big part of our offense in the process. Andrew Wiggins is not that elite defensively as well.
The Herb Jones idea is intriguing, but he’s not much of a three-point threat. Only had one really good season. He’s excellent defensively, no doubt, but we’d still be losing valuable scoring. As for Robert Williams, I put him in the same category as Robinson, talented, but injury-prone. If you could guarantee a full healthy season, I’d be more open to it, but that’s far from reality.
In my opinion, the only scenario where I’d consider moving AR is if the return was Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. We could include Rui and DK. Both are developing into strong defenders, reliable at their positions, and still young, meaning plenty of mileage ahead. That said, I don’t see Detroit making that deal, plus they will be asking for a lot of picks and especially since they’ll likely have a legitimate chance to land AR in free agency next offseason.
On another note, I think the Lakers are doing exactly what was expected, testing the waters through the first few months, evaluating their roster, and then deciding who to move based on the market and potential returns.
I’d do the Knicks deal, don’t see why the Knicks would with Bridges functioning as the starting SG if Hart gets moved to the bench because he’s better then Reaves. Heck, I might even put Josh Hart ahead of Reaves on that depth chart. Knicks are awash with guards, they don’t need more. Clarkson fits in perfectly next to Hart as a backup tandem, as well. No real compelling reason I can discern why the Knicks pull this trigger.
Robinson IS the Knicks backup center, they don’t have another one so really all this trade accomplishes for them is adding the 3rd guard off the bench and nuke their sole backup center.
Yes to Herb Jones, no to Time Lord. But I wouldn’t trade Reaves for Jones straight up, especially for any pick whatsoever. If we get a FRP back that makes sense. Jones is another hole on offense, he had one good season and mostly only OK seasons shooting the three and so space and scoring will be huge issues. You don’t give up the best player AND draft compensation. Not if a real GM wants to keep his real GM job.
Also, I think it’s funny that you use the word “alpha” right next to “backup”. Wouldn’t an alpha player, you know,….start? Plus we have Hayes. Whenever I see these trades that don’t include moving Jax it makes even less actual, practical sense. We’re already up against the wall with roster spots and cap space so now, we’re bringing in another center which relegates Hayes to not playing at all thus wasting both cap space and a roster spot? That also makes zero sense to me.
The reason the Knicks do the deal is to cash in high on injury prone Mitchell Robinson and avoid getting burned with a $70 million extension that would push them close to the second apron and to get a dynamic point guard to take workload off of Jalen Brunson and give their offense a more diverse look while keeping their superstar guard healthy for the playoffs.
Austin Reaves is worth two to three first round picks right now. He will have to have a stupendous season to raise his value higher by the trade deadline. If he struggles, his value will drop. Lakers are starting to understand that it is almost inevitable that Austin Reaves get traded. He’s already outgrown his role. Time to cash that chip in and save the draft pick for next summer.
The reason I put ‘alpha’ next to both Mitchell Robinson and Robert Williams is that both are elite defensive centers who need to be kept on limited minutes to remain healthy, which means they are perfect for playing with a minutes eater like Deandre Jordan. I could see situations where we even closed with one of them.
I prefer to keep Jax and find ways to make him more effective. One of JJ’s big disappointments in my mind was giving up on Jax too soon rather than trying to figure out how to make him more effective. With better players around him, I still think Jax has potential and I like having three centers for a change.