How do the Los Angeles Lakers pivot if the upcoming 2026-27 season is not deemed a step in the right direction? That is a very fair question to be asking with the new campaign rapidly approaching. Unfortunately for a beloved Laker, Austin Reaves is set up to be in the crosshairs.
Trading Reaves is not a conversation that is unfamiliar in Los Angeles. However, at this stage, it is certainly not one the masses want to see revisited. What the people really want to see is All-Star Austin. The Lakers cleared the way for him to fully assume the mantle of second option behind Luka Doncic, and that should allow him the added offensive freedom to thrive this season.
There is a clear vision for the team that features Doncic and Reaves as the two driving forces behind a contender in Los Angeles. The Lakers made a long list of moves this summer to try and achieve that goal. In doing so, they really emptied the asset pool.
That has left them stuck a good bit. With the treasure chest of draft capital being largely emptied, the Lakers have few avenues to explore in the case of needing a serious pivot. That is where this all comes back to the recently re-signed Reaves.
Lakers may get backed into a corner where they have to trade Austin Reaves
First, let us outline what a successful offseason overhaul would look like for the Lakers. They do not need a championship in the 2026-27 season for that to be the case. However, they do need to look the part of a team trending in that direction.
Another 50-win campaign should be a good barometer for regular season success. Getting to a Western Conference Finals would be nice, but ultimately, a hard-fought second-round exit would still qualify this group as one to put confidence in.
What does doomsday look like? In short, proving the critics right.
If the Lakers take a notable step back, drop down to Play-In territory, and the big free agents they just brought in are not fitting quite right, things start to look really messy. Being a first-round out next year would be a tough pill to swallow.
The place the Lakers want to get to is being a team that is one or two pieces away next offseason while having their nontaxpayer midlevel exception and bi-annual exception. That would allow Los Angeles to bridge the gap. They should want to enter 2027-28 looking like a team who are serious rivals for the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.
If that is not the scenario brought by 2026-27, and the Lakers are scrambling for answers, few real options are available to them in search of more retooling than to consider trading Reaves. That will be especially true if the role players underperform. Selling low on those guys will not help the cause.
That is not to say trading Reaves does. It just remains one of the few paths to explore that could land an upgrade or genuine shift in roster make-up. No one truly wants to see that reality come to pass. An underwhelming Lakers season may force the conversation to be had, though.
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