The Los Angeles Lakers will have to make a decision when it comes to guard Austin Reaves in the near future. He will need a new contract very soon.

While the expectation has been that he will end up re-signing a long-term deal with the Lakers, there are still some rumblings that he could leave town. Plenty of teams around the NBA would love to bring in a guard with his skill-set.

Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Reaves remains one of the biggest question marks about the future for Los Angeles. That storyline will be talked about all year long.

Read more: Lakers’ LeBron James Doesn’t Hold Back About Luka Doncic

That being said, a Lakers’ legend has spoken out with a bold opinion about what the team should do with Reaves.

Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers in action during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on March 10, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers in action during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on March 10, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Robert Horry believes that Los Angeles should trade Reaves. He doesn’t think Reaves and Luka Doncic make a lot of sense for the Lakers long-term.

“If the Lakers were smart, they would do a sign-and-trade,” Horry said. “And the reason I say that is because when you have a team with two players who are pretty much the same, meaning Luka and AR, and I’m not saying they have the same skill set. They play the same position, they pretty much do the same thing.”

Last season, Reaves put together a breakout season. He was great offensively.

In the 73 games he played with Los Angeles, Reaves averaged 20.2 points per game to go along with 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. He also shot 46 percent from the floor and 37.7 percent from three-point range.

Those numbers show why Reaves will be searching for a big pay raise. He’s starting to develop into a legitimate star NBA guard.

At 27 years old, Reaves is in his prime and has quite a few good years left ahead of him. Whoever ends up signing him long-term will be getting a high-impact player for years to come.

Read more: Report: Lakers Expected to Aggressively Pursue Trade Talks

It will be interesting to see if the Lakers decided to pony up the money and keep Reaves. They could decide to go the route that Horry has suggested, but it still seems more likely that Los Angeles will choose to re-sign him and keep him as a centerpiece of the team alongside of Doncic.

Expect to continue hearing rumors and speculation about Reaves’ future in the coming months.

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