Currently stuck in a head coaching search and a desperate attempt to bring back LeBron James, the latest Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors will only make things more complicated for a franchise facing an already muddled offseason.
Priority No. 1 is to bring back LeBron. To that end, LA is reportedly willing to offer as much money as possible and the chance for James to play with his son, Bronny.
Next is to find a head coach. (There’s a chance these priorities are reversed if the Lakers want to hire a coach who would appease LeBron.)
The third piece of LA’s offseason puzzle – although not the final one – is to find another star to add to the pairing of (hopefully) James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers aren’t flush with assets, though, which could make finding a deal for the right star more difficult than General Manager Rob Pelinka would prefer.
But it appears one of Pelinka’s most attractive assets is off-limits, or about as close to off-limits as one could get.
Lakers trade rumors: Teams will have to pay a wildly high price for Austin Reaves
As usual, the Lakers have been linked with several big-name targets this offseason. From Trae Young to Dejounte Murray to Donovan Mitchell, Hollywood has been a potential home for any player who would move the needle and upgrade an LA roster that fell well short of an NBA championship this year.
Pelinka has three first-round draft picks to dangle in any potential trades, including the No. 17 pick in the upcoming 2024 draft, which he’s working hard to turn into a difference-maker. It will take more than a mid-first-round selection, though, to land a third star to pair with James and Davis, and in terms of actual players who may be attractive to other teams, the Lakers are limited.
D’Angelo Russell is expected to decline his player option for next season and become a free agent. Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt could hold some value to specific teams, but they’re not much more than overpaid role players. That leaves Austin Reaves as the most desirable asset the Lakers have to throw into a blockbuster trade, but LA’s valuation of the 26-year-old wing is much higher than it should be.
Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic (h/t Bleacher Report), the team will only consider trading Reaves if it can bring back a “bonafide All-Star.”
I’ve heard the Lakers do not want to trade Austin Reaves. They love Austin Reaves. But, if there was a scenario in which they would consider trading him, it would have to be for a bona fide All-Star.
(He will) be the player that every franchise asks for.
Reaves is a good player, but he’ll never be an All-Star. The fact that the Lakers won’t trade him unless they get an All-Star player in return seems a bit ridiculous. Maybe Reaves becomes part of a larger trade, but the fact that LA is overvaluing him will only make an already limited list of moves this summer even shorter for Pelinka.
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