Lakers Promising Guard Dubbed Top Trade Asset Amid Trade Rumors

The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t make too many major moves in the offseason. They entered the 2022-23 NBA season with a nice roster, but lost the season opener to the Golden State Warriors. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka may trade some of his players, including a talented guard.

Will Austin Reaves leave the franchise in the near future? Reaves went undrafted last season but was one of the few bright spots on the Lakers roster. He played 23.2 minutes per game and averaged 7.3 points and 3.2 rebounds while going at a 45.9% clip on his attempts.

Analysts believe that Reaves may be the best tradeable asset on the Lakers roster. Pelinka gave up on a few players, but he may decide to keep Reaves on his roster.

“To be clear, Reaves almost surely isn’t getting traded. He impressed at both ends as a rookie and quickly became a favorite not just of the fans, but of LeBron James, too. However, given L.A.’s lack of assets, it’s worth including Reaves here, even if he’d probably only exit L.A. as the necessary sweetener in a blockbuster trade.”

Lakers superstar LeBron James may keep the guard out of the trade bubble

LeBron James really likes Reaves and his ability to adapt to the situation in LA. This strong connection may secure Reaves’ future in LA.

“Austin can fit in any group,” LeBron said in the preseason. “A guy who plays extremely hard, plays well, doesn’t make mistakes, always in the right place at the right time. He plays extremely hard. His IQ is very high. He fits in any group, and it’s always good to be on the floor with him. I love AR.

“He’s just super-duper cool. He doesn’t do much of anything besides play ball, chill and golf. I will always be a fan of AR for the rest of his career. Hopefully, his career is a lot longer for what I got from my career. If I’m still playing and he’s not playing, there’s a problem. But AR is great, man.”