Lakers rumor: The cruel reality of Austin Reeves trading dilemma

The Lakers may be forced to trade guard Austin Reeves in the 2025 offseason to solve the lack of centers and improve the lineup. The Los Angeles Lakers' mid-season trade in Luca Doncic has caused multiple shocks to the team. While the deal improved the Lakers’ short-term prospects, the deal also puts Austin Reeves in a special position in the trading market.

Despite getting Doncic, the Lakers still failed to break through the first round of the playoffs. Bill Simmons believes that there are obviously some problems in their roster that need to be solved, and only trade Reeves can solve it.

"When Reeves was traded this summer—he would definitely be traded—the rewards they get from him would make it worse for him (the Mavericks) to fail to get him in (the Luca Doncic trade)," Simmons said in the Bill Simmons podcast.

Lakers fans love Reeves, but Simmons believes he is the team's only real trading asset. Reeves has a player option in the 2026-2027 season and he should get a raise, while the Lakers are unable to give him such a raise when they owe LeBron James and Doncic a total of nearly $100 million in the 2025-2026 season.

Austin Reeves has almost left this offseason...

...If you believe Bill Simmons.

As James indirectly pointed out, the team urgently needs to bring in a capable center. Apart from James and Doncic, Reeves is the only player on the Lakers who any opponent team is willing to give up the starting center for him.

Lakers, Austin Reeves' future salary negotiations

The Lakers currently have 11 players' contracts that will last until the 2025-2026 season, which means they can play with Doncic for the whole season. However, they only have three players contracts that season, so the offseason in 2026 is a topic of concern for the team.

After the 2025-2026 season, only Jared Vanderbilt, Sheik Milton and Brownie James' contracts are within the scope of protection for the Lakers. Doncic and Reeves have the player options for the season, while Dalton Knecht has the $4 million team option.

Since Reeves had a contract of only $14 million in 2026-2027, he would almost certainly choose to jump out of the contract and renegotiate the terms of the contract. By then, the Lakers will have to compete with any team willing to offer him a salary of more than $20 million a season.

Because LeBron James adopts a growing strategy year by year, the Lakers may be able to afford Reeves in the 2026 offseason. However, his playing style is obviously too similar to Doncic, so it is difficult for them to cooperate. Regardless of what decision James makes in the end, the Lakers seem to be facing a situation where they either trade Reeves or lose him in vain.