Austin Reaves trade rumors, Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors, Lakers Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors, Luka Doncic, LeBron James
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The Los Angeles Lakers have a major decision to make as to how they want to proceed with Austin Reaves' future amid growing trade rumors.
The Los Angeles Lakers have a tough path towards contending for an NBA Championship this season. Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves give them three All-Star caliber players, but they’ve shown enough flaws to lose to bad teams more than they’d like. Most pundits believe the Lakers need a trade to improve their chances, even though they hold limited trade assets.
NBA insider Dave McMenamin believes that there are five affordable wing players they’re looking at:
“They need help on the perimeter. A guy like Jonathan Kuminga, maybe he could be someone the Lakers could pursue. Maybe Andrew Wiggins in Miami. Someone like Keon Ellis in Sacramento, De’Andre Hunter, Peyton Watson. The list goes on and on.”
Jonathan Kuminga has already been rumored due to the Golden State Warriors clearly wanting to move him if they could get assets in return. Andrew Wiggins has contributed to a title in the past and may be viewed as expendable by the Miami Heat. Role players Keon Ellis, Peyton Watson, and De’Andre Hunter make up the rest of the list. All five are wing players that could compliment the current “big three” in Los Angeles.
Which Players Would Most Help Lakers?
A couple of players stand out more as instant impact to improve the Lakers chances at contending in the loaded Western Conference. Wiggins is the biggest name on the list since he’s been a starting caliber NBA player all his career. The upside of Wiggins has seen him make one All-Star team and help the Warriors win their 2022 NBA Championship.
Hunter is another name above the other three since he’s proven he can score at a high level and provide the versatility needed for a tall athletic wing. The Lakers badly lack this and could easily make up one of their biggest flaws by adding Hunter via a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Unfortunately, both of these players will likely require at least one unprotected first-round draft pick. Opposing teams will have to settle for role players and expiring contracts from the Lakers to see the draft compensation even more important than usual.
Lakers Might Settle For Weaker Names
Kuminga, Watson and Ellis all hold less appeal in terms of teams expecting a game changer, if acquired via trade. The Lakers would look at Watson due to his contract expiring with the Denver Nuggets, and the team likely not extending him due to their salaries across the league. Denver likely will opt to keep him for their title run this season.
The most interesting name is Kuminga since some predict he’ll be a breakout star on his next team, while others think it’s fools’ gold. Golden State has plans to chase big names in the summer and could use this deal to get rid of Kuminga now.
Ellis is the strangest option since the Lakers have been interested in him before and got turned off by the Sacramento Kings’ asking price. Los Angeles is not giving up a first round pick for a player that barely gets playing time on a losing team. All names are realistic, but the Lakers will have to figure out which deal makes the most sense for the future.