Going into last offseason, Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves was expected to be one of the most coveted free agents on the market.
He was a restricted free agent, however, which meant that the Lakers had the ability to match any offersheet he signed. Because of that, teams were hesitant to sign Reaves and he wound up back with the Lakers on a very team-friendly four-year, $54 million contract.
With that contract being one of the best in the league, it’s not surprising to see that Reaves is heavily coveted by teams leading up to the trade deadline. The Lakers reportedly have had talks with the Atlanta Hawks about a Dejounte Murray trade, although L.A.’s lack of a desire to include Reaves in their package seems to be holding things up.
In fact, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers don’t seem to want to trade Reaves at all:
Reaves isn’t technically untouchable, but he’s close. The Lakers value him highly and have no interest in trading him, according to team and league sources. He’s on a cost-controlled, team-friendly deal for at least two more seasons. For the Lakers to consider moving Reaves, they’d need to receive either a clear-cut All-Star — someone better than Murray or LaVine, for example — or multiple rotation upgrades, according to those sources.
This report doesn’t come as a huge surprise considering the Lakers have already let it be known many times how much they value Reaves. Not only does he have a very team-friendly contract, but he is a fan favorite and perhaps the team’s third-best player behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Reaves is currently in the midst of a career year, averaging 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists while shooting 49.4% from the field and 35.1% from 3-point range in 30.1 minutes per game.
As Buha reported, Reaves isn’t necessarily untouchable as if there is a star player out there that is gettable, the Lakers may be willing to include the former undrafted guard in their package. But anything short of that, whether it be a trade for Murray or Zach LaVine, the Lakers clearly have no desire in parting with Reaves.
Austin Reaves became trade-eligible on Jan. 15
Up until this week, the Lakers didn’t have the ability to trade Reaves, even if they wanted to. All restricted free agents that re-signed last summer didn’t become trade-eligible until Jan. 15, which for the Lakers was Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
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