Ranking the Los Angeles Lakers' top 6 trade assets for 2024-25
By Will Eudy
3. Austin Reaves
No one could have seen it at the conclusion of the 2021 NBA Draft when he went undrafted, but Austin Reaves is one of the most valuable trade assets the Lakers currently have. When he first joined the team on a two-way contract, the popular belief was that maybe he could eventually join the regular roster after years of playing in the G League.
But Reaves quickly smashed those expectations in earning a standard contract by the end of September in 2021, less than a month before the start of the regular season. From there, it was a path of steady improvement that slowly but surely transformed him into one of LA's best players.
Becoming a Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year candidate by his second season, Reaves was one of the main reasons the Lakers were able to make a push for the conference finals in 2023. His intelligence in scoring the basketball is an underrated skill, and he has studied the game enough to know how and when to draw timely fouls.
If LA were putting together a trade package, certainly Reaves would be one of the more intriguing pieces they could offer for other teams around the league.