os Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves has been portrayed as off-limits in trade rumors, and that remains mostly true.
Reaves, 25, is a homegrown talent in just his third season and the first on a four-year, $53.8 million contract. He has proven effective in various roles and has the favor of ownership, per Lakers governor Jeanie Buss herself. But Reaves isn’t exactly untouchable.
“The longer answer is more nuanced,” The Athletic’s Jovan Buha wrote on January 26. “There are players the Lakers would include him in deals to acquire. If they could add a bona fide third star to complement [Lebron] James and [Anthony] Davis – Utah All-Star Lauri Markannen, for example – or multiple high-level starters in a bigger trade, they would consider moving Reaves.”
Top trade target, Atlanta Hawks star Dejounte Murray does not fit the criteria, per Buha.
Neither do the likes of DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls and “players in a similar rage”.
Markkanen, 26, is the reigning Most Improved Player, coming off his first All-Star campaign in his first season with the Utah Jazz. A former lottery pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Markkanen began his career with the Bulls, who traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland traded him Utah for Donovan Mitchell ahead of the 2022-23 season.
The 7-foot Markkanen is averaging 23.8 points on a career-high 64.2% true shooting mark, including a 39.4% clip on 8.0 threes per game which are both career highs.
He is in the third year of a four-year, $67.5 million contract. And, although the second year of the deal is only partially guaranteed for the 2024-25 season, the Jazz are just 23-23 this season and Markkanen has been mentioned in trade rumors.
Prying him loose from Utah could be difficult for multiple reasons, though.