Austin Reaves Discussion: Overachiever Who Underachieved

How much is he worth?

He’s worth more than 1 obviously. He was a 20/5/6 player this season. One more solid season like that and I think he could sneak into an All Star appearance.

Would you guys trade Reaves for 2 firsts? I probably wouldn’t unless something decent was attached too. At 3, I’d do it, pretty well straight away.

So maybe 2 firsts is his value?

 

not sure why we move a player for picks when what we need is more players. i don't see why you move reaves unless it's part of an upgrade, either.

i also don't think we're three players away. i think we're two players away. both need to be athletes and defenders, one center, one perimeter player, preferably quick enough to stay with 1s and 2s.

i think we can do this without moving reaves, in theory. we'll need others (and perhaps lebron) to play ball, though.

 

You gotta move Reaves if you can get a quality talent back, though.

I didn't like the fit with Reaves in the playoffs. There's just not enough possessions going around. I believe the team would fit just fine with LeBron+Luka, 3/D guys, and a competent center.

I stand by it, the Lakers made a huge mistake not taking that Mark Williams trade. They were missing a big badly. Hayes is a 3rd string center who you play in garbage time. Knecht received zero minutes and wasn't even used much in the 2nd half of the season.

I was very disappointed in Reaves but he's still a fine player worth having if you can't get better pieces.

 

I'd trade Austin straight up, for several guys in his age range, no picks involved. That's still my guy, but it depends on the players in question. It's hard to let him go at 14M but if we are talking 20-30 range, that's an entirely different conversation.

 

would only trade this guy if it meant getting Giannis - any other trade and we're not going to be happy with the return.

 

The more I think about it the more I don't like trading AR at all - Lakers need to add roleplayers who can actually carry you for a game or two so it allows your stars to get untracked.
Lakers only had Rui who could do that.

 

I know. There are not many options out there in terms of retuning an all-star level offensive player for him. It would be disappointing to LAL if the return were anything less. We are likely not getting Giannis. AR & Rui are projected to be important components for the 26-27 season, if Lebron retires. AR's usage would go up, and Rui would slide to the 4, and likely be a 20 ppg scorer. So, we do have scorers in waiting, so the speak. However, we make look to flip one of those guys for a 3 and D player, even though it might not be the sexiest move in the world. You have to look at it from another team's perspective. Would you rather have AR or Rui if you are another team? But we just cant go with Luka, AR, and Rui as our perimeter defenders anymore. One of the three needs to be 3 and D. Trust me, I do not want to trade quality for quantity or talent for fit, but we might be headed that direction? We might have to. 3 and D players are very hard to find, so there is a premium on those guys. We have a surplus of shot creators, but a deficit in 3 and D talent. Also lob threat bigs, and 3 and D perimeter players are significantly more valuable for our team compared to others, so you also have that.

 

• AR + Vando + Milton to Boston for Derek White?

Anyone have ideas about how to get 3 and D talent?

 

Yeah I’m not questioning that. But those guys are probably worth 2 or 3 picks themselves.

I’d trade him for Myles Turner or OG or one of those sub all star guys that play both sides of the ball. Only because it’s easier to win when you have 6 or 7 two way players - just look at Boston.

 

Turner and OG are more valuable IMO, Austin is a good offensive player, but a liability on D. I think part of our over valuation of him, stems from his contract. I have a hard time seeing anyone but us, thinking Reaves is worth 2 or 3 1st rd picks. He may be that valuable to us, I'm not so sure that the rest of the league, feels the same way.

 

I would look into getting OG. He is expensive but it has been stated by many of us that there is a premium for two-way players. He is a good point of attack defender? I noticed he's now playing the 4. In any case I know he has a good reputation on defense, and he is a high volume and accurate three-point shooter. He also has some injury baggage, but we are not going to be getting perfect players if they are being traded. Rui, Austin, and Vando gets us there. But I would try and target AR, Rui, Vando, and Kleber for OG and Robinson.

PG-Doncic-Vincent
SG-Knecht-Goodwin
SF-OG-
PF-James-DFS
C-Robinson

That's a solid starting 5, but would still need some help.

Next, I would see if we could trade Vincent + Milton + 2031 1st + swaps for a big. Robert Williams is in that price range. We could also see if we could get Mark Williams again, but maybe without Knecht this time. We do need to get at least two rim running bigs though. Actually Gafford is also in that range. However, I really would be reluctant to trade Knecht, because we need that volume shooting. Noy sure about the financial situation, but we may have a shot at Capela or Hardaway in free agency.

 

I'd trade Austin and Kleber, for Isaac and Carter Jr. I imagine that Orlando will be looking to move Suggs this summer for something else. Banchero is extension eligible. I just don't see them keeping him, Suggs and Wagner.

 

I'd do the same trade except Isaac and Goga for Reaves and Vando - I think Goga is a better defender, but I wouldn't mind WCJr either. I'd ask for a first in return however.

If Isaac gets healthy for a single playoff run he is super valuable.

 

i've been pushing for goga, but the more i think about it, the more i think orlando would probably rather give up carter.

anyway, i still think people are underrating reaves again. he produces like a semi-star and is paid 1/3 the salary of others that do that. like, anunoby is probably a downgrade, overall, and he's a poor fit here to boot (not to mention he's a great fit in ny, and why would they do such a deal, either?).

he's not worth 3 firsts? bkn's got 4 firsts this year. what are the odds that even one of them ends up as good as reaves? very low, actually.

anyway, this is all to say that my return in a reaves trade still must be quite impressive, and most of what i see suggested isn't, imo. i'll just roll with him and deal with the contract negotiations when they come. hell, if he's as average as some indicate, he should continue to be cheap, right? if nobody would pay 3 firsts for him, a team with cap space certainly isn't going to pay 30+ per to him.

 

Why would anybody give up 3 first rd picks for Reaves? I mean seriously, he's not a first or 2nd option. Besides homerism..how exactly is OG a downgrade from Reaves? TBH..I haven't seen any NBA folks touting Reaves, as worth multiple 1st rd picks...anywhere. Just around here.. a Lakers fansite.

 

because he puts up 20/5/5, isn't the liability on defense people claim, and can carry an offense for large chunks of games, including crunch time.

go find that on the open market. anunoby is a much better defensive player, but his offense is actually not that strong, as he requires being fed by other players. more importantly, he plays the 4, and we're pretty well set there. also, he makes 3X reaves's salary AND fits perfectly on his current team, so why would anyone bother?

anyway, my point is that they're actually similarly valuable players, one is better on offense, the other on defense. overall stat impact actually leans reaves, tbh.

 

Austin works good offensively off of Lebron and Luka. That doesn't mean that he's a good fit for Luka after Lebron. Then he will be making that 30M. We've seen Reaves struggling on D, in all 3 playoffs series of his career. That's not his strong suit, and I'd be hesitant to tie up that much cash in him, with Lebron gone.


Lebron can play 3 on offense until he retired.

 

austin worked fine before luka got here and will work fine after lebron retires, too.

again, if he's worth 30 million, he's worth three firsts.

 

He's not worth 30M or 3 firsts IMO. I like the kid...a whole damn lot, but we are 0-3 with him playing a major role in the playoffs. Im not sure what makes you think that's gonna improve without Lebron.