Austin doesn't make enough money, to get like value back in a trade. Now in a couple of years, if he's at 30M or something? It depends on the player in question.
I don't think they're that dumb. Aside from rookie contracts, AR might be the best value in the league.
Yeah..Austin is too valuable at those numbers. However he's probably going to the bench, and it sets up an intriguing next couple of seasons. Will he fit with Luka post Lebron? Because I'm sure Reaves is looking for the 30M range contract, after next season.
He clearly suffers the most with this trade. Him and Luka together seems tough to work. At the same time, he's the type of player we can use to get a near star pairing for Luka. I think that's his biggest value for us right now. That can take some time so I'm in no rush and we'll have this rest of season to see what AR with Luka looks like. He's also a sort of expiring next year
I would consider AR moving into the 6th man role. He could win a SotY in that role. Then find a dog to start next to Luka to fill that POA defensive role. With Luka and LeBron carrying the scoring load I could even see Vando in that role: Center: ? PF: LeBron SF: DFS SG: Vando PG: Luka 6th Man: AR (same minutes, just defined as running the bench unit)
I agree with keeping Reaves as the 6th man role. Luka is pretty much Austin Reaves on steroids, so he can seem redundant, but we all know how hard it was to find a ball-handling facilitating guard next to Lebron, especially considering his value at $13M. I would keep him for now, and see how our roster shapes up, at least until his contract expires in 2026.
