The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the best teams in the NBA after the trade deadline. Even without LeBron James, Darvin Ham’s team was able to hold it’s own more often than not.
But as good as their reinforcements were, a lot of that also had to do with a guy who was already there and worked his way up the rotation, and that guy is Austin Reaves.
Reaves has now gauged plenty of league-wide interest, with the Houston Rockets as a potential destination. With that in mind, the Lakers had no choice but to draft Jalen Hood-Schifino as an insurance policy.
Lakers Drafted Jalen Hood-Schifino As Potential Austin Reaves Replacement
(Transcript via Lakers Nation)
“The reason the Lakers were so high on both guards is they saw them as potential replacements for Reaves should an offer sheet price them out of bringing the restricted free agent back, league sources tell Lakers Nation.
(…)
If he does get a max offer though then the Lakers will need to make a decision on whether they want to match it, which could get tricky considering how many other free agents they need to pay and the nature of the new CBA. For those reasons, the Lakers were targeting guards with the 17th pick and may have drafted Reaves’ potential replacement in Hood-Schifino.”
Even so, all signs point toward the Lakers re-signing Reaves, as he has also expressed an interest in staying in Los Angeles. But if that’s not the case, then it’s nice to know they already have a plan B.