With the ink on Austin Reaves' new $180 million contract still wet, the idea of trading Reaves will disgust certain Los Angeles Lakers fans. On that note, observers of the team seem to be in agreement that, were a Reaves trade actually to happen, it would only take place because a superior player is coming back in the deal. Otherwise, the consensus is that a Reaves trade should be off the table.
For instance, Lakers analysts Trevor Lane, Pete Zayas, and Jovan Buha recently discussed whether they would've traded Reaves for a package of Ayo Dosunmu and Naz Reid (back when Reid was still on the Minnesota Timberwolves).
Lane asserted that he wouldn't do the trade, arguing that the Lakers should only trade Reaves if they are getting a better player than Reaves back in the exchange. Zayas and Buha supported that stance.
This is a stance I don't stand behind.
The Lakers should still consider trading Austin Reaves for two defensive-minded starters
I'd still be open to the idea of trading Reaves if I was getting a pair of two-way, starter-level players back in the deal. Yes, even if both of these guys were deemed "worse" players than Reaves offensively or even from an overall standpoint, I'd still consider a trade like this, depending on the specific players in question.
Leaning too far in the other direction -- refusing to trade Reaves unless you're getting a superior player in return -- ignores not only the supreme talent of Luka Doncic but also the type of team Doncic needs around him to thrive. It also ignores how modern winners are being built in this new phase of the NBA.
To be fully transparent, losing Reaves without getting equivalent offense in return would hurt the Lakers' shot creation and secondary playmaking -- there's no way around that.
But the idea that the only acceptable trade for Reaves is to ship him out for a better player ignores how a team like the NBA champion New York Knicks are built. New York has a singular playmaker in Jalen Brunson surrounded by ridiculously good role players. Karl-Anthony Towns is more than a role player, sure, but he's obviously not a playmaker/ball-handler in the style of Reaves.
When you have a dynamic offensive engine like Doncic -- who is a better player than Brunson -- you don't necessarily need another excellent playmaker and ball-handler to win a championship. The Knicks just proved that.
There's also the fact that Reaves -- like Doncic -- is a liability defensively. By trading him and getting defensive value in return, you'd be mitigating your biggest weakness as a club. In other words, the Lakers don't need another high-usage creator beyond Doncic to make their offense functional, or even elite. What they do need are players who can defend at a high level and finish plays that Doncic constantly creates.
Trading Austin Reaves can still bring the Lakers closer to a championship
If you could get two starting-caliber defenders for Reaves -- either a pair of wings or a wing-and-big combo -- you have to consider it. These guys would be two-way players, albeit not necessarily stars offensively (that would make the trade situation unrealistic). In essence -- players who are not elite offensively, but also not a liability at all on that end ... while being elite defensively. Someone like Herb Jones is an example.
The NBA is moving in the direction of team-building that surrounds one superstar with quality and two-way depth. The Boston Celtics just leaned into this philosophy by breaking up their star duo. It remains to be seen if it'll reap rewards, but again, all you have to do is look to the Knicks for a blueprint.
With a singular, transcendent star and a balanced, rock-solid defense team around that star, anything is possible. The Lakers have their star in Doncic. They are less likely to win a title with Doncic and Reaves at the head of the snake than they are with Doncic as the sole star surrounded by a Knicks-esque roster of two-way talent.
Reaves is an awesome NBA player and deserved his payday, but that doesn't mean he's the right fit for the Lakers, especially if a championship is the goal.
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