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Lakers Receive Herb Jones Trade Update After Austin Reaves’ Injury News
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Lakers Receive Herb Jones Trade Update After Austin Reaves’ Injury News

Originally posted on EssentiallySports
By Nandjee Ranjan  |  Last updated Dec 27, 2025 8:11 AM ET

The Lakers are in a free fall. They’ve lost three straight by 15+ points, and after the Rockets blew them out 119-96 on Christmas Day, the calls for change have grown louder, even by their own head coach. JJ Redick’s vocal frustration after the loss to Phoenix wasn’t piped out. It just needed one more defeat to fully come to light. As if they didn’t have enough problems to deal with, they received terrible news about Austin Reaves’ injury, which has now forced them to look to pull an anxious trade.

Defense has been the Lakers’ Achilles heel since the start of the season, and with their offense not bailing them out anymore, it has affected their title chances even more.

The Lakers have been looking for defensive reinforcements, with Pelicans’ Herb Jones being at the top of their list for a while. Jones is one of the best 3-and-D guys in the league, and he’s on a great contract, so it’s understandable why the Lakers are after him. Jones is currently making $13.9 million, which will rise to $14.9 million in 2026-27. After that, his three-year, $67.6 million extension will kick in. That deal has an average salary of $22.5 for his services, which would be a team-friendly price for the defensive star.

However, according to Clutch Points’ Brett Siegel, the Lakers’ caliber to pull the trade is very thin. “The Lakers have already held conversations with the Pelicans about Jones’ availability, but they, too, aren’t actively looking to move their defensive-minded wing,” Siegel wrote. “Jones’ asking price remains very high, and he appears to be out of the Lakers’ price range in terms of assets.”

Given what assets the Lakers have in possession, the scenario doesn’t move beyond fantasy. They do not have two tradeable first-round picks to package together in an outgoing deal at the moment. It would be either 2031 or 2032 that is available right now. Furthermore, Jones can’t even be traded until Jan 14th, as he signed his contract extension on July 14th this year.

The Lakers will be hoping his trade value drops overnight. Otherwise, they might have to look elsewhere for reinforcements, and they are necessary now more than ever with Reaves going down with an injury.

Can the Lakers survive Austin Reaves’ absence?

Reaves was in the midst of a great outing on Christmas Day when he was ruled out for the second half with a calf injury. The Athletic’s Dan Woike later reported that the Lakers guard had suffered a Grade 2 left gastrocnemius strain. He’ll now miss at least four weeks of action before he is re-evaluated.

26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists are not the numbers of a role player. Replacing a player of this caliber when the team consistently lacks effort is almost impossible. That’s what the Lakers are up against after Reaves’ injury. Even with AR playing, the Lakers were a terrible defensive team, but the trio of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves could still bail them out in some games with their elite offense.

Reaves’ replacement would require a multidimensional shift in how the Lakers play. They will have to play elite defense on a nightly basis, and LeBron has to take a big part of the offensive responsibility. The Lakers have by far the lowest-scoring bench in the league this season. They are almost as bad on the boards [29th in rebounds].

Redick has to figure out how he is going to fill those voids in the immediate future. LA has some winnable games on its schedule in the next few days.

This article first appeared on EssentiallySports and was syndicated with permission.

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