The Los Angeles Lakers want to make a splash ahead of the looming 2024 NBA Trade Deadline.
Over the past few days Los Angeles has been linked to a controversial role player, one legitimate superstar and a win-win-win three-team deal.
Unfortunately, in order to get something of value – they will need to give up something equally important. And the only player on the roster that commands any sort of intrigue among folks around the league is Austin Reaves.
According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, there is one condition under which the Lakers would ultimately think about trading Reaves elsewhere.
“They have no interest in trading Reaves,” Buha wrote.
“The exception would be in a deal for a clear-cut third All-Star, with a name like Lauri Markannen being the only player of that ilk potentially available on the trade market (and an unrealistic option for the Lakers, to be clear).”
While it doesn’t sound like L.A. wants to move on from Reaves, this newest position is certainly a departure from what the front office was saying about him when the season began.
At that point, Reaves was totally off limits.
So far this season Reaves is averaging 15.1 points per game (career-high) on 48.6 percent shooting from the field and 34.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
From an efficiency standpoint, while he is scoring more points, Reaves is getting his shots to drop at a worse rate this year.
When the Lakers initially signed Reaves to a long-term extension this summer, there were visions of him becoming the team’s third-best player behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
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Although there is an argument to be made that he has emerged as that, it hasn’t been in the dominant way folks had been hoping for it.
That is probably why his name s being floated right now.
Will the Lakers ultimately end up trading Reaves ahead of the 2024 Deadline? Time will tell.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.