MAJOR Lakers Trade Rumors On Austin Reaves: Lakers Mavericks Trade Happening AGAIN?

MAJOR Lakers Trade Rumors On Austin Reaves: Lakers Mavericks Trade Happening AGAIN?

Should the Lakers trade Austin Reeves? That is what we are discussing here on today’s Lakers report by chat sports. Welcome into the show. My name is Jeffrey Cooperstein. Great to be with you guys. And Bleacher Report suggested this Austin Reeves trade idea that I think is absolutely insane. We’re going to break it all down here on today’s show, but before we do, please go ahead and hit that subscribe button if you haven’t already. If you want more Lakers content all throughout the 202526 NBA season, we will constantly be covering everything from LeBron James to Luca Donuch to everything surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers. So without further ado, let’s hop in to today’s show. [Music] So, you might be asking yourself, what is the reason that the Lakers would even entertain trading Austin Reeves, someone who is a key part of their team heading into this season? Well, the answer is pretty simple. This offseason, Austin Reeves did decline a max extension from the Los Angeles Lakers, and he is set to pretty much become a free agent in the summer of 2026. He’s likely to to decline the final year of his contract. as a player option. More than likely going to decline that and test free agency next summer. Well, he will be an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any team. And that deal that he just declined this summer, four years, $90 million. So Reeves believes that he can get more than that on the open market. PJ Washington of the Dallas Mavericks just signed for 4 years and 90 million. So Austin Reeves is probably right in betting on himself to try and go get the bag because I think some team might end up giving it to him. And there are reports out there that Reeves is looking for north of 30 million on his next deal. And at 27 years old, is that a risk that the Lakers are going to want to take giving a guy who might be entering his prime? May not, you know, kind of stay on the upward trajectory and have the development that you might have of giving a guy that money, but he still is a very good player in the league. He had a career year last season averaging 20 points a game for the first time in his career in 73 games. He also averaged almost six assists and really became a valuable playmaker over the last couple of seasons, averaging 5 a half in 23-24 and then 5.8 in 2425. He’s always been an excellent three-point shooter. He was down in 2122, but almost 40% 36% and almost 38% last season. So, this is a guy who is a force on the offensive end. He can kind of do it all. If you need him to play point guard, he can. He’s really best served as a two though, playing off of a point guard like Aluca or a point forward like LeBron James. He can be a great secondary ball handler on the court for you at all times. And he really opens up a lot of options on the offensive end because you can do a lot of things with him. You can play pick and roll. He can be the pick and roll ball handler. He can also come off of screens and get open shots. And he can create shots for himself in the lane as well. He’s really a Swiss Army knife on the offensive end of the court. The only question with Austin Reeves is whether or not he can get it done on the defensive end. And that is certainly where teams and where the Los Angeles Lakers would have pause. If the Lakers don’t want to resign Austin Reeves next summer, and they absolutely might, it’s completely possible that Reeves declines that player option, goes to free agency, and ends up right back with the Lakers. That is certainly in play. But if they if the Lakers don’t see Reeves as part of their long-term future, they should trade him and try to get something for him because you can’t let a guy like this who’s averaging north of 20 points a game walk for nothing in free agency. And the Lakers right now are a team that is right up against the apron and they’re in the luxury tax and they are not going to have a lot of room to work with in free agency. So if they lose Reeves, it’s going to be very very difficult to replace him. Right now, I have Reeves in the Lakers starting five for this upcoming season alongside Luca Donuch, Ruy Hachimura, LeBron James, and DeAndre Aton as that starting center. And this right here is one of the best starting fives in the NBA. I don’t think there’s any question about it. The back court of Luca and Reeves is the best offensive backcourt in the NBA. I think Luca is the best offensive player in the league, followed by Reeves, who can play off of him. and those two guys will just be able to get each other open and get each other great looks at all times. I think it’s fantastic offensive back court. Now, again, on the other end, leave something to be desired. But that’s why you have Ruie, that’s why you have LeBron James on that other end of the court as well. And then DeAndre Aton playing off of those guys as a lob threat in the pick and roll where is really really successful. I think he’s going to be a very good partnership with both of those two guys in the back court. So, as we sit right now, I do think the Lakers have a very formidable starting five. I hope hopefully they can gel and hopefully they can build off what they built in the second half of last year. I know they came up short in the playoffs, but I think that starting five can be one of the best in the Western Conference. And you can see the Lakers having homecourt advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs. We will get to the trade idea that Bleacher Report had here in just a second, but I do need to tell you guys about our sponsor of today’s show. Welcome back, Price Picks, to the Lakers Report. 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Here’s what Zack Buckley had to say on this trade. Lakers fans probably won’t like this suggestion. Maybe their decision makers wouldn’t either, but that’s fine. They all seem like big fans of Reeves, and he’s given them plenty of reasons to feel that way, like the 20.2 points and 5.8 assists he averaged as a third option this past season. He’s a really good player. He also is not a great trade asset. His growth potential is probably limited by his age, and he might be super expensive by this time next year. One executive recently told ESPN’s Tim Bontimps that Reeds will get 30 million plus on his next contract. So the thing is the Mavericks really won’t like this trade either. And I think that’s for a multitude of reasons. Number one, they are very very very high on Derek Lively, the third-year big man out of Duke that they drafted with the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft. The Mavericks are trying to build their team on size, athleticism, and defense. They’re not going to trade away any of that size, especially for a guy in Austin Reeves, who is basically heading into the final year of his contract. I really think that Austin Reeves is a great player. I just don’t think he fits what the Mavs are trying to do. And then the Mavs also feel completely burned by the Luca trade and what happened on February 1st where the the Lakers end up getting the superstar in the NBA in exchange for the aging superstar in Anthony Davis and alongside Max Christie and just one first round pick. I do think that the Mavericks feel like they made a mistake on that trade and they’ll be very hesitant to deal with Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers again. So, because of those two things, I really don’t think that this is a trade that would ever materialize. I don’t think the Mavericks are ready to give up on third-year big man Derrick Lively, who’s just 21 years old. Yeah, he’s dealt with some injury issues, and yeah, he’s had uh, you know, some on the court things where that he hasn’t really been able to figure out quite yet, especially on the defensive end. But Dallas is really, really high on him, and I don’t think they’re getting rid of him for Austin Reeves. So, look, I think they would be interested in getting the first round pick as well because Dallas’s cupboard in isn’t very stacked, so to speak, as far as the draft picks go, because they had to deal a draft pick to acquire PJ Washington. They had to deal one to get Daniel Gaffford. They had to deal one to get Kyrie Irving. So, the Mavericks don’t have many first round picks at their disposal either. So, maybe that that would intrigue them and maybe think make them think about this deal. But, I don’t think that the Mavericks would be interested in this. And I want to preface this. I have a revised trade here. I don’t think that the Lakers would accept this trade whatsoever. But this is what I think the Mavericks would counter offer with. I think the Mavericks would get Austin Reeves. They would throw in a protected first round pick back to the Lakers and give them Caleb Martin and Dwight Pal to match the salary. And before you think that this is an absolutely crazy trade, it kind of is. But Dwight Pal and Luca do have established chemistry. And yes, I’m not saying you can play Dwight Pal 15 to 20 minutes a night at this point anymore, cuz you really can’t. But he does have established chemistry with Luca. He knows how to run the pick and roll with him. Back in 2021 and 22, Dwight Pal is actually the best role man in the league when it comes to pick and roll points per possession. So, he could actually be a pretty solid asset to the Lakers and be DeAndre Aton’s backup. Now, you’d be relying on Aton to play a lot of heavy minutes there with the Lakers. They did bring back Jackson Hayes as well. So, if you have Dwight Pal as your third center, it wouldn’t really be about the trades. It would be about getting Austin Reeves, getting out of the Austin Reeves business in exchange for a first round pick essentially. So, I don’t think the Mavericks would accept the first trade. I really don’t think the Lakers would accept the second trade, which is why I think at the end of the day, Austin Reeves is going to end up staying a Los Angeles Laker. But I want to ask you guys before we get on out of here. If you were Rob Pelinka, would you trade Austin Reeves? If you would, type T for trade. If you would not, type P for pass. Let me know down in the comments section what you guys would do as GM of the Los Angeles Lakers. As I said, the most likely outcome here is I think both the Lakers and Reeves want to play this season out and then just see what happens. I think Reeves is willing to bet on himself. What if AR has 25 points a game this year, six assists, shoots 40% from three? Like, it’s very possible he could get a max contract next off season. And if that’s the case, really not sure the Lakers would be interested in bringing Reeves back either. I think Reeves and sees himself as a number one, maybe a very high-end number two option out in free agency. So maybe that’s what happens. But I’ll tell you this, if Austin Reeves continues on that upward trajectory and does have a season better than last year, I think that means really, really good things for the Los Angeles Lakers. So, of course, we’ll keep you up to date. If anything happens with Austin Reeves, if he ends up signing an extension, if the Lakers end up trading him, you know where to find it right here. It’s youtube.com/lakersv. And we’ll see you guys soon here on the channel. [Music]

Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors involving Austin Reaves have been circulating all throughout the 2025 NBA offseason, and Bleacher Report suggests a trade that would send Austin Reaves to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Mavs center Dereck Lively II. After the Luka Doncic trade, will the Mavericks ever trade with Lakers GM Rob Pelinka again? That remains to be seen, but the Lakers still have a need at big man despite signing Deandre Ayton in 2025 NBA Free Agency. On today’s Lakers Report, Jeffrey Cooperstein breaks down Zack Buckley’s trade idea!

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Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley On the Lakers Mavericks Trade:
“Lakers fans probably won’t like this suggestion. Maybe their decision-makers wouldn’t, either. That’s fine. They all seem like big fans of Reaves, and he’s given them plenty of reasons to feel that way—like the 20.2 points and 5.8 assists he averaged as a third option this past season.
He’s a really good player. He’s also not a great trade asset. His growth potential is probably limited by his age (27), and he might be super expensive by this time next year. One executive recently told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that Reaves “will get $30 [million] plus” on his next contract.”

MORE Los Angeles Lakers news & rumors:
– 🚨MAJOR REPORT: Austin Reaves In Line For MASSIVE Contract? Lakers Rumors Are HOT – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E77Bkazfqs4
– BREAKING: Luka Doncic Signs 3-Year Extension With Los Angeles Lakers | Full Details & Reaction – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPm3bZ3nyyA

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