The Los Angeles Lakers have surely been watching the Conference Finals play out in both the East and West, and it's fun to consider what sorts of reactions Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka may have had to the Cleveland Cavaliers getting swept by the New York Knicks on Monday night.
The Lakers certainly have reasons to be monitoring two Cavs wings -- Dean Wade and Keon Ellis -- as they enter free agency this offseason, but might there be a much larger fish on the Cavaliers that Pelinka is toying with the idea of pursuing?
What if the Lakers went after Donovan Mitchell this offseason?
There's reason to believe that Donovan Mitchell has reached the end of his tenure in Cleveland, even if he's still under contract for $50.1M next season (along with a $53.8 million player option for 2027-28). The big question surrounding Mitchell and the Cavs this offseason is whether or not the two parties will agree to the four-year, $272 million max extension that Mitchell becomes eligible for on July 7. Mitchell has reasons to wait another year to sign an extension, as he'd be eligible for a five-year supermax extension worth $350 million next offseason. He might also be turned off entirely by the idea of extending with Cleveland if he doesn't think the Cavs will be a contender moving forward.
At his best, Mitchell is a top-10 player in the NBA who can single-handedly take over games with his athleticism and shot-making. But he's never proven he can lead a team to the promised land in the playoffs, and it feels like this year was a do-or-die situation for Mitchell and the Cavs. Besides the East likely being stronger next season, the Mitchell-James Harden duo doesn't look like one that has a chance to contend. There are plenty of Cavs observers who feel that Cleveland should blow everything up this summer and rebuild something sustainable around 24-year-old Evan Mobley.
Would Donovan Mitchell be a better Robin for Luka Doncic than Austin Reaves?
Supposing the Cavs did decide to put Mitchell up for sale on the trade market (which also assumes he decides not to sign an extension), the Lakers might be able to get into the Mitchell business by considering the route of sign-and-trading Austin Reaves. This leads one to the inevitable question of whether or not Mitchell would be a better sidekick for Luka Doncic in LA than Reaves has been.
When you stack the players up against each other 1-on-1, Mitchell is undeniably the superior talent. Despite the aforementioned playoff woes, Michell has carried franchises as an alpha/Batman superstar in multiple seasons (in both Utah and Cleveland), and Reaves has never done that, nor do we know that he'd be capable of doing that. Mitchell is also a much superior athlete to Reaves, even if his defense isn't as strong as it should be, given that athleticism. He's finished No. 7 and No. 5 in MVP voting in the last two seasons. He's a franchise player. Reaves is a tier below that.
As 3-point shooters, Mitchell and Reaves have nearly identical career percentages. Mitchell's 36.6% is slightly below Reaves' 35.8%. (This would be an important metric to consider in the Luka sidekick discussion, but it results in a moot point due to the similar splits).
The Lakers are widely expected to re-sign Reaves this summer to a new max deal (which they'll try to lowball as much as possible). But what if Pelinka, seeing that Mitchell was highly available, decided to scrap his vision of a Luka-AR future and opt instead to pair Luka with Mitchell? This might also align with LeBron James' potential one-year deal, as both James and Mitchell would be off the books following next season, allowing Pelinka with another summer of flexibility (presuming Mitchell declined his player option).
I, for one, like the idea of the Lakers changing things up and seeing what a Luka/Mitchell/LeBron core could accomplish in 2026-27. We already know the ceiling of the Luka/Reaves/LeBron trio, and it isn't close enough to a contender.
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