Austin Reaves reportedly rejected the Los Angeles Lakers’ $89.2 million contract offer this week, allowing him to potentially sign an extension worth $246.7 million with the Lakers next summer.
However, Heavy’s Jonathan Vankin thinks Los Angeles could soon end their tenure with the improved fourth-year contributor by trading him to the Dallas Mavericks.
“Would the Lakers one again attempt to extract a star player from the Mavs, after the instantly-infamous Doncic deal,” Vankin wrote Thursday. “The Mavericks this week signed center Daniel Gafford to a three-year, $54 million extension, a contract that allows Gafford to be traded.”
“With eight-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving expected to miss all, or at least most, of the upcoming season with knee surgery, Dallas needs a shooting guard (Reaves) to take his place and to help get the ball to No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg.”
Reaves did everything right with the Lakers before the postseason.
The Oklahoma product proved he could handle an expanded offensive role with Los Angeles in Year 4, averaging 20 points per contest on 46.0% field goal shooting and 37.7% three-point shooting as a poised 6-foot-5 guard.
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However, when the pressure intensified in the playoffs (the Lakers were the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference), Reaves’ clutch shot-making alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James didn’t stand out.
Contributing 16.2 points on 41.1% shooting from the field and 31.9% shooting from deep will rarely suffice as a top-three scoring option, which Reaves found out the hard way against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Trading the NBA Cup champion would likely get labeled a controversial move, but it’s a legitimate possibility this summer with the franchise searching for a starting-caliber frontcourt stud.
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