Lakers Rumors: Austin Reaves Wasn’t Available in Trades; Eyed for Big Role by Redick

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVSeptember 6, 2024

Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

JJ Redick reportedly wasn’t about to start his tenure as the new Los Angeles Lakers head coach without Austin Reaves on his roster.

“I just know JJ [Redick] has big plans for Austin Reaves,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during Friday’s episode of his Hoop Collective podcast with colleagues Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon (27:50 mark).

“Not only that, when there were discussions with the Lakers this summer and teams had discussions with them and Austin Reaves came up it was a hard ‘no.'”

That Los Angeles wanted to keep the 26-year-old comes as no surprise.

After all, he is signed through the 2025-26 season with a player option for 2026-27, so he can be a building block for multiple seasons. The Purple and Gold also need consistent playmakers outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and Reaves is arguably their third option given the roster construction.

He averaged 15.9 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from deep as someone who can initiate his own offense, hit from the outside when defenders collapse on the stars or facilitate in a ball-handling role.

Reaves has improved his scoring and assist numbers in each of his three seasons in the league, and there’s no reason to think that pattern will change during the 2024-25 campaign.

That is especially the case if Redick has “big plans” for the versatile playmaker who can fit into almost any lineup construction the coach chooses.

Los Angeles’ front office surely expects that improvement to continue as well even in a new system, which is why it was in no hurry to trade him this offseason.