Fans and pundits seem split on whether the Los Angeles Lakers have done a decent job of remaking their roster this offseason. They added Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili and others after losing LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes, and some feel the team is not in good shape at all moving forward.
One reason some feel that way is that Los Angeles gave up almost all of its draft capital to get Kessler. To them, L.A. needs all of its new players to live up to expectations; otherwise it will have no way to upgrade from those players, especially since several of them have been signed to long-term contracts.
NBA insider and podcaster Zach Lowe feels that the team gave up too much
for Kessler, and as a result, it may have to trade Austin Reaves to bring back some assets it can use to improve.
“There’s no question that they overpaid for him (Walker Kessler) and are now trapped with this team and have to figure out: either this is the team or is there a way to pivot by trading Austin Reaves down the line or something like that. They are out of tradeable assets because of the Walker Kessler deal.”
The Lakers sent the Utah Jazz two future first-round picks and two pick swaps for Kessler, and it also gave Reaves a four-year, $185 million contract this summer. As of now, they only have three second-round draft picks and one pick swap to offer in a trade due to the Stepien Rule, which outlaws teams from trading away first-round picks in consecutive years.
It is likely realistic to expect the Lakers' new additions to live up to enough of their expectations. But there is never any guarantee of that for any team, and that is why it is important for teams to have tradable draft picks in order to have an outlet, as well as to simply have assets to use in a trade for a player who could take those teams to the next level.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: NBA insider suggests Lakers may have to trade Austin Reaves
