The Los Angeles Lakers are always a team to look out for when we approach the NBA season’s trade deadline. Needless to say, this campaign won’t be the exception to that rule.
The Lakers have been tangled up with almost every big name in the Association. However, they don’t have appealing or valuable trade assets outside of Austin Reaves and their 2029 first-round pick.
With that in mind, Detroit Pistons beat writer James Edwards put together the only trade they could be able to pull off with those assets, assuming they change their mind and become willing to move on from Reaves.
Lakers Could Trade Austin Reaves
In this hypothetical scenario, Rob Pelinka would send Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick to get Bojan Bogdanović and Alec Burks:
Austin Reaves
“Los Angeles would receive two players with $30 million worth of team-friendly deals — Bogdanović has a partially-guaranteed year left on his contract after this season and Burks is an unrestricted free agent after the season — who immediately bolster a Lakers squad that takes the fewest 3s in the league, is in the middle of the pack in conversion of those 3s and has a bottom-10 offense in the NBA. Both Bogdanović and Burks could take a big scoring load off of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, while giving the Lakers some flexibility for next summer to add to the roster,” Edwards wrote.
The Lakers would get two pieces that could help them win right now, and while it might seem like they’re overpaying, they’d be in a better position to compete. As for the Pistons, they would keep adding assets for their rebuild:
“Detroit gets a likely solid-to-good draft pick and rotational players on the wing, which are needed in the Motor City. The Pistons are looking for good draft capital and/or good players to justify losing Burks and Bogdanović, and a deal like this accomplishes both,” added Edwards.
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Needless to say, this entire deal hinges on whether the Lakers are willing to move on from Reaves after a disappointing season or not. But it could be a win-win situation for both teams.
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