The Los Angeles Lakers are likely going to make some kind of trade before the 2022-23 season begins. There is no way that the front office will roll into the season with this roster after the disaster that was last season.
The biggest possible trade is for Kyrie Irving but that might be off the table with the Brooklyn Nets unable to find a Kevin Durant trade partner (to this point). That being said, there are other routes the Lakers can take, most of which include trading Talen Horton-Tucker.
Horton-Tucker might not be the only young Lakers player on the trade block, though. With an influx of new youth on the roster, there is a chance that the Lakers could entertain the idea of trading last season’s standout guard, Austin Reaves.
Sam Amico of Hoops Wire reports that other teams have expressed interest in Reaves as a trade asset this offseason. With the Lakers being desperate and not wanting to trade future first-round picks, there could be a world in which the team includes Reaves in a trade over including a first-rounder.
Regardless, the Lakers would be foolish to trade Austin Reaves this offseason.
There just are not a lot of circumstances where trading Reaves makes a lot of sense for the Lakers. If the Brooklyn Nets are willing to take on Westbrook without any first-round picks attached because Reaves is in the trade that would be one thing. That is not going to happen, though, as Reaves does not have that kind of value.
If anything, Reaves would likely be included in a package deal for a smaller veteran to keep LA from including a first-round pick. Instead of packaging Talen Horton Tucker, Kendrick Nunn and a future first for Eric Gordon, the Lakers could do something like THT, Reaves, Wenyen Gabriel and a future second for Gordon.
That would be awful. Not only is Gordon a bad trade target but the Lakers would be trading too many promising players in return for one veteran. Flipping THT straight-up for someone like Patrick Beverley is one thing. Including Reaves in the deal is simply too much.
While it seems like common sense, this is the franchise that gave up actual NBA assets for Russell Westbrook last season when every other team in the league would have asked for assets in return for Westbrook.
Lakers can dump Russell Westbrook to Utah Jazz with this trade package
The Los Angeles Lakers need a backup plan for Russell Westbrook in case the Kyrie Irving trade falls through. Enter the Utah Jazz.
So don’t be surprised if the team gets desperate and includes Reaves in a trade that he has no business being a part of.