The midst of the NBA’s glitz and glamour, the purple and gold, Los Angeles Lakers find themselves dealing with more than just the on-court challenges.
After a recent disheartening lost to the Miami Heats, Lakers’ key payer Austin Reaves vocalized about the team’s somber mood and their struggle to regain their footing and secure victories. However, the major concern for the player is probably his next steps in the NBA.
Lakers have no desire to trade Austin Reaves
As the Lakers’ journey themselves through victories and losses this season with the player trade deadlines closing in soon too, circulation of rumors regarding a potential Austin Reaves trade emerges to be on the top of the lists.
Rumors suggests of a potential trade scenario involving Dejounte Murray, who currently plays for the Atlanta Hawks. The Lakers had initially expressed their interest in Murray due to his “two-way player” capabilities. This may have brought second thoughts to the management in involving Reaves into it.
The Lakers seem to face a dilemma in either trying to improve the entire roster by letting go of Reaves, arguably their third-best player, or explore other options in the market that shows very limited prospects for the team to work around.
Despite the franchise’s reluctancy in parting ways with Reaves, trade discussions involving D’Angelo Russell into the mix seems to be an interesting mystery to many.
The Lakers are NOT interested in trading Austin Reaves, per @JakeLFischer
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 10, 2024
(More here: https://t.co/TipaNOP9La) pic.twitter.com/YEyFuYdWx8
However, according to NBA Central, they report that though Reaves stands to be a symbol of both frustration and flexibility, he still remains to be a non-negotiable asset for the Lakers.
Austin Reaves, asked about continuing to come off the bench as the Lakers have changed their starting lineup, said “winning is all that matters … whatever that role is, I’ve got to go do that to the best of my ability” pic.twitter.com/jXCqEWzhQ7
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 3, 2024
Darvin Ham reportedly asked James, Davis about Lakers lineup
The Lakers are currently sitting on the 10th position in the Western Conference, with 19 wins and 20 loses. It seems that the team is facing challenges that transcend beyond the court. Speaking of the Lakers’ roster, they have so much of dynamism to boast besides the LeBron James-Anthony Davis duo.
The offseason addition that includes Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura, with a mix of fresh talents like Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood, and Cam Reddish, have elevated the team’s depth.
Darvin Ham consulted with LeBron James, Anthony Davis on Lakers’ pivotal lineup change, per report https://t.co/IbGErAkehG
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 10, 2024
It has been increasingly evident that the Lakers Head Coach, Darvin Ham’s, approach to the lineup-building introduces a distinctive strategy that deviates from the conventional NBA norm. After having faced with multiple difficulty in resurrecting the team from their loses, Ham involved Lebron James an Anthony Davis in the rosters’ line-up discussion, with the hope of expecting a better outcome.
Now with James and Davis being able to contribute to the line-up decision making process, can they push the Lakers back on the map as potential contenders for the playoffs this season?
