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Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers just got Austin Reaves back from a month-long absence thanks to an oblique injury, and the results have been mixed, at best. It’s only three games but Reaves has been averaging 15.0 points since his return, with a shooting mark of just 30.4% from the field and 11.8% from the 3-point line. Now, again, Reaves has been off for a month and he had to come back during the gauntlet of the NBA playoffs, with fellow Lakers star Luka Doncic also on the shelf because of a hamstring injury. It would not be fair to size him up based on these three games.

But if there is something that should be clear even with all the caveats about Doncic and the Reaves injury, it is this–the Lakers as they are currently constructed just are not a good enough team to realistically contend in the West. They can be a playoff team, they can advance to the second round, but this well could be the ceiling on this group.

With that in mind, casting ahead a bit, there should be a real question about whether the Lakers are serious about giving Reaves a max contract this offseason, worth $241 million over five years.

Lakers Not Built to Compete With Top West Teams

That’s one of the throughlines running out of the Lakers-Thunder series after the first game, in which Reaves went 3-for-16 shooting and struggled against Oklahoma City’s relentless pressure. The problem for the Lakers is that, though OKC might alter its roster a bit in the coming years, they’re set up to play with that level of pressure for the foreseeable future. And the Spurs are set up to get to that level, too, with the hit-or-miss Timberwolves also capable of getting there.

For ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, a Hall of Fame NBA reporter, the Lakers should be taking a broader lesson from what they’re learning in this series– a core of Doncic, LeBron James and Reaves is not the answer.  The Lakers should trade Reaves this summer, not overpay him.

Speaking on ESPN’s morning show, “Get Up,” Wilbon said that no, the Lakers should not keep moving forward with this current group. “Not when I look at Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Minnesota. They’re all ahead. Denver’s got to make moves, too. So you’re going against teams that are already ahead of you.”

Austin Reaves Better Used to Fill ‘Needs’

Wilbon points out that Reaves would have more value for the Lakers as a sign-and-trade piece this offseason than as a re-signing at a big number. Indeed, if the Lakers did a sign-and-trade with Reaves and signed a player with cap space, then topped it by bringing back James, they could add two new, likely defensive-minded stars to help Doncic.

But Reaves-Doncic-James is not going to cut it, and Reaves would be the easiest to move on from.

“You mention Reaves, he is an interesting piece and situation. There are some places—Reaves could open a lot of places,” Wilbon said. “He is a really good player. Does he have to be with Luka and LeBron? I don’t know, they’ve got some needs on that team.

“Look at this now, who are you going to move, what are you gonna do? Hachimura? What can you package with him, what can you do? Just look at the history of this league.”

After mentioning that even Wilt Chamberlain was traded (multiple times), Wilbon said, “You think that Austin Reaves can’t get traded? You think that Jaylen Brown can’t get traded? Any of them can be traded. I think that Denver and the Lakers are two teams I am looking at that have to improve their teams.”