NBA Rumors: The Los Angeles Lakers may have to trade one of their beloved core players if they want to compete in the Western Conference.
The honeymoon phase of hiring a new head coach (J.J. Redick) has seemingly faded as the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves at a bit of a season crossroads. With the NBA Trade Deadline less than two months away and with the Lakers quickly falling down the Western Conference standings, some big decisions need to be made. Either the Lakers need to embrace a complete retooling of the roster (likely at the expense of LeBron James) or they need to put all their chips at the center of the table. That could mean including one key core member of their roster in trade talks.
According to at least one anonymous NBA executive, there's a belief that the Lakers may have to trade Austin Reaves if they want to compete for a championship. This executive doesn't believe that Reaves can be your third-best player on a championship-contending roster. Either the Lakers must significantly improve the roster in which Reaves becomes a fourth or fifth-best player on the roster or they need to trade him in order to put themselves in a better position from a talent perspective.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in a difficult spot heading into the trade deadline
Either way, it does give insight into how difficult of a position the Lakers currently find themselves in. If the Lakers do agree with this assertion, it is a somewhat discouraging development. Just a couple of seasons ago, the Lakers believed that Reaves was one of the rising offensive stars in the league. However, because he's more of a one-dimensional player, it's easy to see why he may not be the best fit to be one of the best players on a championship roster.
To be perfectly honest, it's hard to push back on this idea if you're the Lakers. For the better part of the last two seasons, Reaves has been the third-best player on the Lakers and it hasn't led them to much success. In fact, the Lakers didn't even win a game in the playoffs last season (not counting the Play-In Tournament).
There's no question the Lakers need to improve their roster if they want to compete for a title this season. However, finding a path toward acquiring a star-level talent that will alter their ceiling significantly could be difficult. At this point, trading Reaves may not just be an option the Lakers have to consider but it may be a requirement if they want to make a splash move at the trade deadline.