The Los Angeles Lakers Insider approved Trade of Austin Reaves for an All-Star Worth $67 Million

Trade rumors have characterized Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves as off-limits, and for the most part, that is still the case.

In just his third season and his first on a four-year, $53.8 million contract, Reaves, 25, is a homegrown talent. According to Lakers governor Jeanie Buss herself, he has demonstrated effectiveness in a variety of roles and has the favor of ownership. Reaves isn’t invulnerable, though.

On January 26, Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote, “The longer answer is more nuanced.” The Lakers would include him in trades to acquire certain players. Reaves would be moved if they could acquire multiple high-level starters in a larger trade, or a legitimate third star to complement [Lebron] James and [Anthony] Davis, like Utah All-Star Lauri Markannen.

According to Buha, Dejounte Murray, a top trade target for the Atlanta Hawks, does not meet the requirements.

“Players in a similar rage” and players like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls don’t either.

Reigning as the Most Improved Player, 26-year-old Markkanen recently finished his first All-Star season during his debut season with the Utah Jazz. Markkanen started his career with the Bulls before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was formerly a lottery selection of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

With a career-high 64.2% true shooting percentage, which includes a career-high 39.4% clip on 8.0 three-pointers made per game, the 7-foot Markkanen is averaging 23.8 points.

Currently, he is three years into a four-year, $67.5 million deal. Additionally, the Jazz are only 23-23 this season, and Markkanen has been linked to trade rumors, despite the fact that the second year of the contract is only partially guaranteed for the 2024–25 campaign.

But getting him out of Utah might be challenging for a number of reasons.

Lauri Markkanen Stays With Jazz in Consensus
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype wrote on December 22 that “Lauri Markkanen of Utah became the subject of trade speculation leading up to the G League Showcase.” Regarding his future, there seems to be more agreement now that the incident has occurred.

“Most NBA executives who spoke with HoopsHype think that Markkanen will stay in Utah because he wants to stay there, his upcoming free agency comes at too high of a price, and he can renegotiate and extend his contract after the season. A number of executives referred to the idea of trading Markkanen as “wishful thinking.”

The Lakers are also somewhat hampered by their inability to obtain easily accessible draft capital. Still, with a 39-year-old star leading the roster, their future first-round picks are valuable.

The $67 million Most Improved Player trade that is proposed for the Lakers

You can hang up the phone on Lauri Markkanen. It isn’t taking place. Not just yet, anyhow. Action Network’s Matt Moore wrote on January 21 that “the Jazz and Markkanen will work on a long-term extension this summer, and the most likely outcome is he stays with Utah on a max.” However, that is a summertime concern, and the Jazz have no chance of trading Markkanen before the deadline.

Even if he were on the trade block, Markkanen is wishful thinking for the Lakers given how rare it is to find players of that caliber in their prime and the price to acquire him.

Lakers May Have Few Trade Choices
To make matters more complicated, the players the Lakers are considering trading are not highly valued in the league. For instance, in order to acquire Murray from the Hawks, they would need to switch D’Angelo Russell to a different team.

For a large portion of the season, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent have dealt with injuries. The latter is still recovering from a knee injury.

The acceptable returns in a trade have increased as a result of Russell’s upward trend. However, if the Lakers were already having problems finding a suitor for the ninth-year guard, that might work against them.

Josh Buckhalter covers the NFL and NBA for Heavy.com, concentrating on the Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls. Since 2016, he has written about the NBA and NFL for FanSided, Last Word on Sports, and Clocker Sports, among other publications. Illinois’ Villa Park is home to him. Josh’s handle on Instagram and Twitter is @JoshGBuck. Additional details regarding Josh Buckhalter