3 disastrous mistakes Lakers must avoid making this summer
By Jason Reed
2. Lakers can’t let Austin Reaves be the next Alex Caruso
One of the biggest mistakes that Rob Pelinka has made as the general manager of the Lakers was letting Alex Caruso walk in the 2021 offseason. Los Angeles had the ability to bring Caruso back but decided to get a tight checkbook and let him sign a cheap deal with the Chicago Bulls.
Los Angeles had Bird Rights on Caruso, who reportedly came back to the Lakers and was willing to re-sign on a cheaper deal. However, the team decided it didn’t want to pay the tax that would come with Caruso’s deal and instead decided to re-sign Talen Horton-Tucker.
Look, we all thought THT was going to be a solid player but to choose him over Caruso was questionable even back then. THT was an unproven commodity that was still 20 years old. Caruso was a proven, reliable role player that was one of the best defenders in the league.
The Lakers cannot make the same mistake with Austin Reaves, who has taken the mantle of a fan-favorite role player. Reaves is a restricted free agent this offseason and his contract situation is tricky. If a team loves Reaves enough, they could swoop him and make it near-impossible for LA to re-sign him.
That is not likely to happen and as long as the Lakers pay Reaves what he is worth after tearing it up this season and in the NBA Playoffs then he should return. But then again, the multi-billion dollar sports franchise does have a tendency to operate like it is based out of Kansas City at times.