Should Lakers Sell High on Austin Reaves This Season?

Fresh off yet another heroic performance, Austin Reaves is forcing the Los Angeles Lakers to confront an uncomfortable question: Are they better off trading him while his value is at an all-time high, or treating him as a member of their big-picture core?

The issue feels counterintuitive—he is holding the team together right now—but it's the direct result of the 27-year-old's scorching-hot start to the season.

After dropping 28 points, tying his career-high in assists with 16 and sinking a game-winning floater against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, Reaves' averages continue to look like typos.

His performance is helping keep the Lakers afloat as they navigate absences from LeBron James and Luka Dončić. It is also ensuring he'll be more expensive to re-sign in free agency next summer.

However, Los Angeles could decide to address his future before then.

Reaves holds a $14.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season. Spoiler alert: He's going to decline it.

Don't bother holding out hope for opt in-and-extend scenarios, either. The Lakers would be capped at offering an additional four seasons and $93.4 million on top of his option. A total commitment of five years and just over $108 million is no longer inside Reaves' ballpark.

If he keeps this up, one of the nine other teams projected to have cap space might consider throwing him a max deal.

Here's what those scenarios could look like based on current projections:

With Dončić already on the books for $50 million-plus per year moving forward, the Lakers have to think long and hard if they're willing to shell out $40-plus million annually for Reaves. Especially if the goal is to bag a bigger star down the line.

The Lakers can essentially travel down one of three paths in the event they decide to sell high on Reaves.

They can use him as the anchor to trade for another star; turn him into a future-focused package built around first-round picks and prospects they intend to flip as part of a separate blockbuster swing later on; or try parlaying him into a more modest-sized haul of picks and prospects attached to a combination of role players who help keep them competitive now.

Selecting the preferred route is a matter of taste—for now. The decision will be made for L.A. in the coming weeks and months.

As the Lakers get healthier, they should have a better idea where they stand in the Western Conference. That directly influences what they should target in a Reaves trade.

In the meantime, the best Reaves suitors are those who desperately need another ball-handler and scorer, and have the incentive to fork over primo assets to fill that void. As for which teams might just check that box...

Few teams need someone who can dribble more than the Dallas Mavericks. The list of squads in front of them plummets to zero if Kyrie Irving doesn't return from an ACL injury this season.

Dallas is within $1.3 million of the second apron, which likely necessitates roping in a third team, since the Lakers themselves are inside $1.2 million of the first apron. That's totally fine.

Building a workable deal gets fairly easy if you can find a third-party facilitator. The Mavs have a tantalizing young big man in Dereck Lively II alongside whom Dončić has already played, as well as two first-rounders they can dangle—including Los Angeles' own 2029 pick.

Mathing out the remaining matching salaries is pretty straightforward. Dallas has a smattering of mid-end contracts like Naji Marshall, Daniel Gafford and old friend Max Christie it can use.

The Detroit Pistons were at their best last season when they had another reliable ball-handling outlet to play in tandem with and independent of Cade Cunningham.

Between Jaden Ivey's right knee injury and Caris LeVert's hamstring issue/slow start, the offense has failed to replicate that element.

While the Pistons are among the teams scheduled to have cap space over the summer, the restricted-free-agent holds for Ivey and Jalen Duren could remove them from the crop of big-time spenders. Acquiring Reaves and his Bird rights is safer. His arrival also safeguards them against Ivey not panning out.

Ausar Thompson is almost assuredly off the table in any negotiation, but Detroit can construct something around some combination of Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland II and first-round picks. Duren could be on the table as well, though the Lakers would have to be smitten with the idea of bankrolling his next deal.

Fred VanVleet's ACL injury has left the Houston Rockets without a proven primary ball-handler who's also a floor-spacing threat. And barring a sudden breakout from sophomore Reed Sheppard, the answer doesn't appear to be in-house.

Houston might be reluctant to part with more assets after acquiring Kevin Durant. Then again, trading for—and extending—a 37-year-old star demands you operate with immediate urgency.

The Rockets have all sorts of goodies to include if they make a run at Reaves. Short of Durant, Thompson and Alperen Şengün, there may not be anyone who's off the table. Jabari Smith Jr. could prove to be an exception, since he just signed an extension and is subject to the poison pill provision. But that merely makes a trade harder—not impossible.

At any rate, Houston has other assets that would interest L.A., including Tari Eason and nine incoming first-round picks. Any deal may need to be expanded to include more players and teams, but the Rockets and Lakers have the supplemental mid-end salaries to figure out something—so long as L.A. is enamored with more of a draft-pick-centric return.

Unless a prospective suitor forks over an All-NBA-player-in-his-prime package for Reaves, the Lakers should let his future ride into free agency.

Yes, this leaves open the possibility he leaves for nothing. But Los Angeles can offer him more years and money than any other team. Depending on LeBron James' future, it can also promise Reaves a permanent promotion to their No. 2 option.

Shopping him in advance of the Feb. 5 trade deadline would be more appealing if he didn't make so little. Even if you are prioritizing draft picks, it is hard to recoup adequate value for someone earning just $13.9 million when you're hard-capped at and brushing up against the first apron.

Obvious exceptions exist. If the Milwaukee Bucks come calling and want Reaves, salary filler and however many picks and swaps the Lakers can offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo, then, yes, you make a move.

Failing another front office pulling a Nico Harrison, though, there's a chance Reaves is more valuable to the Lakers on his next contract—as both a core piece and trade asset.

Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.