If the Los Angeles Lakers endure a quiet offseason after experiencing a first-round playoff exit, they shouldn’t expect to make significant progress in 2025-26.
Luckily, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley predicts the organization will land a skilled 7-foot-1 Dallas Mavericks center by moving on from a breakout star.
"The Mavericks need a ball-handler to hold things over while Kyrie Irving recovers from his ACL tear and a support scorer to slot alongside a healthy Irving and Anthony Davis,” Buckley wrote Tuesday.
"Few players who are realistically connected to the trade market would better check both boxes than (Austin) Reaves. Even as a third option in L.A., he's already established himself as an efficient 20-point scorer while also putting a healthy amount of separation between his averages in assists (5.8) and turnovers (2.4).”
"It's certainly possible his playmaking could elevate if utilized in a more featured role (even if only temporarily), and he'd have the added bonus of having established chemistry with Davis, due to their time together in L.A.”
"The Lakers would need to decide whether (Dereck) Lively qualifies as the impact big they're after, but save for some injury issues, his first two seasons have been true head-turners. And since he spent a season-plus with (Luka) Doncic in Dallas, Lively might hit the ground running in L.A.”
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Buckley’s trade proposal sends Reaves and Shake Milton to the Mavericks for Lively and P.J. Washington.
Lively was Doncic’s primary lob threat in Dallas, which explains why the Duke product connected on 74.7% of his field goals last season and was an unsung hero during the Mavericks’ incredible run to the NBA Finals.
Lively averaged 8.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game on 70.2% field goal shooting this year.
However, injuries prevented him from taking his chemistry with Doncic to the next level before the Mavericks traded the Slovenian star to the Lakers.
The Lakers would be wise to reunite Doncic with his stable pick-and-roll partner in free agency. It’s no secret that Doncic is at his best when he can toss lobs to tremendous vertical athletes with great instincts.
Lively is only slated to make $5 million next year, making him the perfect cheap frontcourt asset to snag in the offseason.
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