The Los Angeles Lakers should not trade Austin Reaves this season because he’s on an expiring contract, and they wouldn’t get great value back in return. Jovan Buha recently discussed this topic on his YouTube channel.
“This is the point I’ve been making for months, going back to last season, that, if I’m the Lakers, the way I play this with Austin is, this is an audition season… How’s Austin’s catch-and-shoot progressing?: Buha said. “How’s he playing?... This is like having that asset that you know is only going to gain value, and selling low— Trading one of your players after a poor performance or just knowing that longer term, they’re going to have more value. You’re selling low.
“I think, right now, you’re selling incredibly low on Austin because his contract is literally lower, so there’s a limitation to the type of player you can get. But he’s also about to be a free agent, and that just limits his value, because any team trading for Austin has no guarantee that he’s going to stay. So, why would I give a Desmond Bane package for Austin when Austin can just dip next summer? Desmond Bane’s under contract for multiple years.”
Why shouldn’t Lakers trade Austin Reaves?
Reaves has a chance to gel very well with Luka Doncic. For the past few years, the Dallas Mavericks have found success pairing him with other talented guards such as Jalen Brunson, Kyrie Irving, or even Spencer Dinwiddie at times. Reaves can easily mimic that success.
But there’s no guarantee it works out in this specific instance. And if the Lakers would rather prioritize getting a better center or an elite 3-and-D type guy, Reaves could be a perfect trade chip.
That said, Buha makes a great point. If the Lakers were to explore trades for Reaves right now, they wouldn’t get good value back in return. Teams wouldn’t be willing to pay as much because they would have to worry about Reaves leaving in free agency.
Plus, he doesn’t make enough money right now to match a max contract in a trade.
Instead, as Buha outlined on his show, they should simply use this season as a tryout period, extend Reaves at the end of the year, and then decide whether or not they want to trade him.
If Reaves doesn’t end up fitting well next to Doncic, trading him would make plenty of sense. But there’s no reason the Lakers should rush things and trade him this year.