The Austin Reaves question

The Lakers have one more season with Austin Reaves at a huge bargain. Should they trade him now or pay up on a big contract next summer? Good morning. Let's basketball.

In 2023 amid restricted free agency, the L.A. Lakers retained Austin Reaves for a song. At that point, Reaves was clearly an NBA success story two years after going undrafted: he played big minutes largely off the bench for L.A. and offered up a good mix of scoring punch, efficiency and playmaking. But he wasn't an obvious NBA starter quite yet and certainly not a star. In the two years since, he's leveled up twice. Last season, among the 50 players who averaged 20 or more points per game, Reaves finished No. 9 in True Shooting percentage. He was the second youngest player in the top 10 of that list, but only because he's two months older than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He's a capable deep shooter on high volume, he gets to the line at a good clip and he's a smart passer. He's a very good player.

He's also probably a little redundant alongside Luka Doncic, and certainly redundant in lineups with both Luka and LeBron James. Reaves is at his best on the ball or heavily in the action despite his solid spot-up numbers. Putting Reaves as a kick-out option most of the time simply wastes a good bit of his power.