Report: Lakers Prefer To Keep Austin Reaves

According to NBA insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Los Angeles Lakers prefer to keep Austin Reaves. 

Reaves averaged 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists this season while shooting 48.6% from the field, 36.7% from beyond the arc and 85.3% from the free-throw line. He played in all 82 games. 

“The Lakers would also prefer to keep Austin Reaves, according to team and league sources,” Buha wrote. “They previously refrained from including him in trade talks for Murray at the 2024 trade deadline and Kyrie Irving at the 2023 trade deadline. Reaves’ playoff performances in 2023 and 2024 have affirmed his fit around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.”

The Lakers went 47-35 this season. They lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 playoffs in five games and fired Darvin Ham as head coach after the postseason ended. 

Reaves averaged 16.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists in the Lakers-Nuggets series while shooting 47.6% overall, 26.9% from 3 and 89.5% from the foul line. The rising star didn’t have a good relationship with Ham, sources told Hoops Wire. 

Los Angeles signed Reaves to a four-year, $53 million contract last July in restricted free agency. The guard will make $12.9 million next season. 

The 25-year-old Reaves has career averages of 12.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists. LeBron and Davis are big fans of Reaves’ game, sources said. 

The Lakers have been linked to Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and Darius Garland in NBA trade rumors. Los Angeles would need a “bonafide All-Star” in return for Reaves, per Buha. 

“I’ve heard the Lakers do not want to trade Austin Reaves,” Buha said on his podcast. “They love Austin Reaves. But, if there was a scenario in which they would consider trading him, it would have to be for a bonafide All-Star, an All-NBA caliber guy.”

The Lakers are widely expected to hire JJ Redick as their new head coach. Redick and LeBron co-host the “Mind The Game” podcast. 

Redick will call the 2024 NBA Finals for ESPN with Mike Breen and Doris Burke. The Lakers will likely hire Redick after the Finals end.