The Los Angeles Lakers employ a guard with a very bright future in the NBA in Austin Reaves. The 26-year-old showed significant growth in the 2024-25 season and perhaps should have received more serious consideration for the Most Improved Player award, as he averaged 20-plus points and five-plus assists per game in his fourth NBA campaign.
With Reaves still quite young and on the heels of his best season as a pro, there are some Lakers fans who might want to see the Lakers hold onto him for the long haul. However, former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams appears to see Reaves as somewhat expendable considering the Lakers now employ another top offensive guard in Luka Doncic.
Williams seems to think the Lakers could explore trading Reaves for an upgrade at the big man spot.
The Lakers don’t really need Austin Reaves now that they’ve got Luka 👀 So which big should they flip him for? 🤔
If they’re trying to win right now, it’s time to cash in… pic.twitter.com/svFFsGbkOC
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) May 23, 2025
“Now you have Luka, you don’t really need what Austin Reaves bring to the table,” Williams said. “You have the alpha in that category. You don’t necessarily need the second-best option there. You’re gonna go and upgrade.”
Whether Reaves gets moved this summer or not, it’s clear that the Lakers as currently constructed aren’t built to win or even contend for titles. After all, with two of the best scorers in the NBA in Doncic and LeBron James leading the way, the Lakers lost in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs and didn’t put up much of a fight against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers were eliminated in a gentleman’s sweep, and Reaves had a series he likely wishes to forget. He averaged 16.2 points per game but shot just 41.1 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from 3-point range.
During the conversation in question, former NBA forward Chandler Parsons mentioned a few bigs who could feasibly be on the table around the NBA, including Brooklyn Nets big man Nic Claxton.
Perhaps the Lakers should at least kick the tires on Claxton this summer. Claxton has been one of the best rim protectors at the center spot in the league in recent years, as he has a knack for altering and blocking shots.
He’s averaged 2.0 rejections per contest over the last three seasons and even swatted 2.5 shots per game in the 2022-23 regular season. In that three-season span, he’s averaged more blocks per contest than the likes of big men Rudy Gobert, Kristaps Porzingis and Evan Mobley.
Of course, there are other options the Lakers can also explore, but whichever route they go, they’d be wise to add help in that area one way or another.