Lakers Encouraged to Trade Austin Reaves Before Price Tag Drastically Increases

"He is a top-40 player in the league, something like that. I think he is so good, I think he is a monster. He has one year left on his contract before he gets quite expensive here. He is going to get very, very expensive moving forward. Is there anything around just Dereck Lively, who has played with Luka, who we know has great synergy with Luka, for Austin Reaves?"

It would be a tough pill to swallow for the fan base and the front office to deal Reaves. He's considered a homegrown success story after going undrafted and emerging as one of the better young shot creators in basketball. This past year, Reaves averaged a career-high 20.2 PPG in his fourth NBA season.

For as good as Reaves is getting to the line and scoring the basketball, his prowess on the defensive end of the floor remains a real issue. The Lakers are faced with extending Reaves on a deal that will likely pay him close to, if not more than, $40 million annually.

Once LeBron James retires, a big chunk of the financial cap will be earmarked for two players (Reaves, Luka Doncic) who are very poor on the defensive end of the floor.

Now, the Lakers could very well still win with these two as core fixtures. The rest of the lineup would likely have to be highly athletic and defensive-minded. In this iteration, the Lakers may be able to poach Dereck Lively from the Mavs and their loaded frontcourt.

Of course, in the wake of the Doncic deal and what that brought, Dallas may be reticent in dealing with the Lakers once more, despite the fact that these two still appear to be natural trade partners with one another.

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