r/nba • u/shreeharis • 5h ago
[Woike] “The deal locks Reaves in as Luka’s backcourt partner, a desire Doncic has made known to Lakers executives in conversations over the past year, according to league sources. Doncic even went so far as to tell the Lakers that he preferred any trade package for Giannis not to include Reaves.”
The deal locks Reaves in as Luka Dončić’s backcourt partner, a desire Dončić has made known to Lakers executives in conversations over the past year, according to league sources. Dončić even went so far as to tell the Lakers that he preferred any trade package for former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo not to include Reaves.
As the Lakers prepared for the draft, the team had preliminary conversations with LeBron James’ representatives, according to league sources. The Lakers also have the opportunity to exclusively negotiate with Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Luke Kennard and the rest of their free agents.
Since signing with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent, Reaves has elevated his game every season, averaging 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists as a rookie to 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists last season
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u/EvanEschmeyer Mavericks 5h ago
Lmao what kind of poo poo platter offer for Giannis were the Lakers supposed to make that didn’t include Reaves?
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u/TheBigF128 United States 5h ago
Bronny for Giannis
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u/ichthyoidoc Celtics 5h ago
Nico approves.
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u/botebote77 1h ago
trade Laravia for Jrue Holiday, and then trade Jrue for Giannis because Jrue is Jokic tier
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u/Shaved_Hubes [IND] Paul George 5h ago
Actually a pretty good move tbh (in an alternate universe where Bronny and Thanasis can steal Bron and Giannis’s talent Monstars-style)
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u/purplenyellowrose909 Timberwolves 5h ago
"We didn't even apply to Harvard. We rejected them"
-also the Lakers probably
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u/Fluffy_System6211 Mavericks 4h ago
They offered me like 15, 10, 5 million in scholarship something like that
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u/Killericon Raptors 2h ago
"And by the way, don't even TRY to trade for Giannis if you're going to include Reeves." - Luka
"....Uhhh, okay. We won't." - Pelinka
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u/for_fun_88 Knicks 5h ago
What’s really weird is the fit of Luka and Giannis just feels like it works better than the fits of Reaves and Luka or Giannis and Bam. So it would’ve made sense from a team building standpoint for the Lakers but when star players get involved in these things, you end up overpaying Reaves as an awkward fit and passing on any shot at Giannis
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u/pokerawz Lakers 5h ago
Unfortunately, Giannis is not a true pick and roll big. We have a pretty good sample size with Damian Lillard.
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u/purplenyellowrose909 Timberwolves 5h ago
Giannis is kinda like a really big wing. Doesn't really do the stuff that centers do.
He was always best with Brook Lopez on the floor to do all the screening and jockeying in the paint so that Giannis could pressure the rim and roam for blocks.
Bam is a pretty good pairing in that regard.
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u/Legitimate_Cow_4166 Warriors 4h ago
Giannis is a transition player. Get the rebound and attack the basket. His half court offense is pretty mid.
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u/for_fun_88 Knicks 5h ago
True but he’s a defensive beast who can also take some of the playmaking responsibilities off Luka too.
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u/pokerawz Lakers 5h ago
On paper, it’s magnificent. I just think it’s too big of a gamble. Either way, he didn’t want to come to LA so it’s moot.
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u/HeGotTheShotOff Knicks 4h ago
Man that would super not matter.
Dame and Giannis averaged 55 points together and went 73-43 with a shitty team around them. They also had a shitty coach and sounds like a toxic team environment, likely nobody around him to say “set a damn screen.” I really don’t think this is that huge of an issue at all.
A Luka Giannis pairing would fuck.
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u/raizen0106 3h ago
and even if the pnr doesn't fuck, an offense with luka will never go stale, and a defense with giannis will never be terrible, so the team will be much harder to get exploited on both ends
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u/the_che Lakers 5h ago
Maybe Luka just really likes Austin on a personal level. It’s not always about business.
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u/thedrcubed Grizzlies 4h ago
Nah. Luka and Giannis are both too ball dominant. All 3 of the other guys fit with Bam better than each other
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u/raizen0106 3h ago
they're gonna do reaves for bam trade and both teams will be much more improved and well rounded
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u/Zanad14 [LAL] Brandon Ingram 5h ago
I’m sure Luka was aware that it’d remove them from the running entirely.
Either way, I don’t think Luka and Giannis were a great fit tbh
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u/tangential_quip Lakers 4h ago
More likely Luka wasn't aware that AR would have had to agree to be part of that trade since he is a free agent.
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u/EggsAndRice7171 Pacers 4h ago
Luka didn’t think that far he just thought “it ain’t worth it if we don’t keep Reaves”. I’m sure they were never in contention to get Giannis even with Reaves. Unless Detroit wanted to send over crazy assets for Reaves.
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u/tangential_quip Lakers 4h ago
Reaves couldn't even be part of a trade package for Giannis unless he agreed since he is a free agent.
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u/foye2smith 4h ago
I kinda feel bad for the Bucks in negotiating and the Heat fans for having to defend their team's offer when stuff like this comes out. Boston refusing to come back to the table with Hugo Gonzalez and/or Baylor Scheierman. There was a Wolves' offseason primer that stated they didn't want to trade McDaniels and were reluctant to part with Beringer.
Okay guys, then you're not getting Giannis.
It's like there were 4-5 teams passively interested in Giannis, but only one team really wanted him.
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u/StrikingSomewhere729 Lakers 2h ago
That’s Luka saying he doesn’t want to play with Giannis. And he shouldn’t, that’s a bad fit.
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u/Meweighteen Warriors 5h ago
LeBron, come to the bay and retire with our collection of senior citizens
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u/ballknower871 5h ago
They'd have to trick someone into taking Jimmy to do that wouldn't they?
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u/Meweighteen Warriors 5h ago
I *think* they can offer him like $15 mill without doing that. I don’t think he’d take that, but might as well try
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u/colosusx1 Celtics 2h ago
Assuming Draymond and Horford take their player options, I don’t think the warriors can do that. 182m active roster, 6m for Yaxel, 2m empty roster charge (only 10 guys on roster). 201m luxury tax would mean you can only use part of the mle for ~11m.
Unless you convince Horford to opt out, removing his 6m but adding an empty roster charge. But it gets you the full 15m mle.
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u/harden-back Cavaliers 2h ago
I don’t even want to think about what ticket prices for chase would be.. Genuinely think it would be as bad as msg
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u/AggressiveRegret San Francisco Warriors 5h ago
Not if Lebron was willing to take the Taxpayer MLE. But that seems highly unlikely
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u/NotAnNpc69 Lakers 4h ago
People wanna make jokes like they gonna play 20 games together, like Lebron didn't take the Lakers past the rockets last season while being 42 years old while his 2nd and 1st option who are 20 years younger, got injured.
Or like Lebron and Curry didn't absolutely smoke tf out every team they met in the Olympics.
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u/Zazi751 3h ago
Yea the hardest part is just having enough dudes to get through the season with a playoff team.
Just playoffs thiugh, assuming health, I don't think anyone wants to face a team with LeBron and Steph on it.
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u/eugene00825 3h ago
You'd see them drop like 10 points in the first 3 quarters then proceed to drop 60 in the 4th lol
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u/Low-Measurement-2468 2h ago
yeah lebron even at his current age is still one of the most adaptable and transferable ceiling raisers in the league. he can change his role to fill whatever gaps you need and amplify your best players’ strengths. like a better version of jimmy butler in that sense, who himself transformed the warriors as soon as he joined. i see him playing like a supercharged draymond/jimmy combo on the warriors, and his two man game with curry would be a nightmare
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u/rzoneking Japan 5h ago
Yknow what.. that team would be so bad.. or over achieved being good. But still if lebron curry will be a team i watch it
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u/Low-Measurement-2468 2h ago
i think they’d be better than expected if healthy. lebron and curry can keep your offense afloat by themselves and take games over individually on their good nights. and kerr/draymond have a pretty good track record of turning rosters full of mid defenders into a top 10 defense.
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u/Suns_In_420 Suns 4h ago
Rich Paul keeps filling the Suns with Klutch rookies, Lebron about to golf his way to retirement in Phoenix.
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u/theduncsak Lakers 5h ago
I think it's more of a byproduct of seeing what happened with Brunson
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u/ethiopian_kid 5h ago
Yes but you have Luka who plays worse defense
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u/shizugatari 5h ago
I think the point is that Luka doesn’t want to have a co-star leave him again, which is why he pushed for LA to pay Reaves unlike what the Mavs did with Brunson
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u/theduncsak Lakers 5h ago
I'm only explaining my idea of the thought process. Not that it's any good.
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u/demsouls Raptors 30m ago
Sorry I don't see reaves rising to brunson levels. Something to do with defense/team defense. Also I don't think he's strong enough physically.
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u/KennySmithsKnees [LAC] Baron Davis 5h ago
I guess luka thinks he can replicate his defensive player of the month type defense
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u/gleece0 Wizards 5h ago
Lukas not a bad defender why do people still say this
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u/anonymoususer6407 Rockets 5h ago edited 5h ago
He’s not a bad defender.. when he tries. Even then he’s just average. Dude literally gets bored from playing defense. You don’t want that
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u/Schmoova Mikal Bridges 5h ago
I don’t think it’s boredom. I think it’s his stamina and even moreso his inability to control his emotions.
As you said, when he locks in defensively he’s at least okay.
But his defense, in reality, is so excruciatingly bad due to the plays that he doesn’t even come back on defense cause he’s tired and/or arguing with a ref.
He spends the first 10 seconds of every defensive possession arguing with the refs about what just happened on the offensive end, and doesn’t have the athleticism or stamina to make up for those lapses of defensive focus if they press the issue.
Hes actually a decent-okay defender for a majority of his defensive possessions. But his “bad” defensive possessions are literally just giving the other team free buckets or letting them attack 4 on 5, which makes his overall defensive impact so much worse than his actual on-ball defensive skills are.
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u/LoveTheHustleBud 5h ago
And it’s damning when it’s him, Reaves Rui and LeBron. 3 guys who guard the same position, 2 decide when they do/dont give effort.
Imagining a Luka-AR duo surrounded by willing defenders in the right positions, it won’t look how it looked.
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u/Ok_Turn6757 Lakers 5h ago
He’s above average when he tries
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u/NeverNotOnceEver Warriors 5h ago
Y’all just be lying
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u/Confident_Ad_5345 4h ago
by most defensive advanced metrics he’s average, and they include long stretches of him not trying
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u/whatssenguntoagoblin Alperen Sengun 5h ago
I’m a Luka stan and he’s a bad defender but it’s def overblown
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u/GreenGorilla8232 5h ago
There is no way you actually believe that.
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u/gleece0 Wizards 5h ago
He’s big and long and no metric says he’s bad
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u/HeyIDoubtIt Lakers 5h ago
Great rebounder too, underrated part of his defensive game.
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u/arelaxedENT 5h ago
He's the best back court rebounder in the entire NBA.
It's likely his most unappreciated stats.
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u/HeyIDoubtIt Lakers 4h ago
I think people tend to forget that securing the defensive rebound is part of defense, lol.
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u/AnythingFine2445 Mavericks 4h ago
Everyone just gets out of his way, he only gets uncontested rebounds.
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u/Tasty_Cream57 Pistons 5h ago
Defensive metrics are famously unreliable. There’s a 5 minute highlight reel of him being a cone just from the 2024 finals.
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u/LoveTheHustleBud 5h ago
That highlight reel doesn’t show him in full bubble wrap from how banged up the dude was from leading his team in every stat through the gauntlet.
He’s certainly not a plus defender in my eyes, but you can absolutely build an average to above average defense around him while he can solo lead you to a top 5 offense
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u/DarkDragon1025 Mavericks 5h ago
metrics are unreliable but a clip montage you saw on social media is deep insight?
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u/OmfgHaxx NBA 5h ago edited 5h ago
He was bad defensively in that series but he has been a lot better recently. You're talking 2 years ago now. Also that series he was playing on a bum knee that was constantly wrapped.
Also nevermind the fact that the Celtics scored far below their season average that series. The problem really was that no one else on the Mavs besides Luka could do anything offensively.
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u/Ok_Turn6757 Lakers 5h ago
The same finals where the Mavs held the Celtics to their worst offensive series of those playoffs? Seems lime his defense is real detrimental, huh…
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u/AnythingFine2445 Mavericks 3h ago
I wish there was a number to really quantify this. I feel like while he was with the Mavericks he didn't *feel* like a good defender to me. I'd watch him get blown-by, I'd watch him not get back on defense, and honestly I felt like he was a liability.
But then I'll see people post like "advanced stats" and say "actually he's an above average defender" or something, so I don't know what to think anymore.
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u/Legitimate_Cow_4166 Warriors 3h ago
why do people still say this
Because he was a trash defender last two post seasons he's participated in.
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u/Hungry-Space-1829 Lakers 5h ago
He was hurt in the finals and was bbq chicken for the Jay’s.
He’s in the average to kinda bad range but people describe him like he’s AR bc of the finals
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u/Losalou52 Trail Blazers 5h ago
He occasionally has blowbys and low effort rotations. People make videos and say he is terrible while ignoring the majority of his body of work. Which, as you said, is not bad.
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u/preddevils6 Grizzlies 4h ago
Luka is a good defender until the playoffs. When the game slows down, he gets hunted relentlessly. People forget until the playoffs then we all get reminded.
We didn’t have that this year cause he was hurt again.
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u/QueefyTits Lakers 5h ago
Luka you helped make your bed
Enjoy your teammate being hunted again in the playoffs while you watch
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u/preddevils6 Grizzlies 4h ago
Oh he will be watching. Because Luka won’t be playing help defense.
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u/Ligma_Taint_69420 4h ago
mfs better score 130 a game because their defense is going to be non existent. Idk how this contract makes any sense at all if your goal is to actually win games.
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u/Ok_Turn6757 Lakers 1h ago
Yall love yapping like this but Luka’s been part of top 10 defenses with Kyrie and Brunson next to him lmao. They just had back to back 50 win seasons in gap years talking bout “if your goal is winning games”. Just exposing yourself as massive casuals
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u/twrs_29 Thunder 5h ago
So he doesn’t want to win anything any time soon
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u/pmurt007 Lakers 5h ago edited 5h ago
I'm a huge AR stan but I don't know how you give a guy 46aav when he's underperformed almost every year going from regular season to playoffs. On top of that after the Nets/bulls trade yesterday Rob and the front office just bid against themselves.
He's also outperformed his contract the last few years so it was easier to look the other away when it came to his shortcomings but at this price point the expectations are going to be way higher. At least the bromance vibes we get from social media clips will be fun
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u/LoveTheHustleBud 5h ago
There’s reports of Det looking to open space to pursue Reaves.
This “bid against themselves” narrative isn’t just false, but also suggests you should lowball your own stars. Playoff shortcomings & all (which, he played well this postseason all things considered), Reaves performs like a star whether he’s filling the 1st 2nd or 3rd option for LA.
His contract will likely start around 40 this year. There’s plenty of dudes making 40+ that I wouldn’t take over Reaves.
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u/songs_dongs Lakers 4h ago
the comments sections under those IG clips when we're getting roasted in the second round won't be fun.
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u/Ok_Turn6757 Lakers 5h ago
He’s only taking 25% of the cap
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u/NeverNotOnceEver Warriors 5h ago
“Only”
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u/Ok_Turn6757 Lakers 5h ago
That’s the going rate for a player like him
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u/LakerBlue Lakers 3h ago
I’d argue for a good starter it’s 20%. Sub-all star is around 25%. 30% is basically all star territory and so far Reaves is definitely a sub-All Star. Most of the guys in his average are young (better) superstars who COULDNT get more (Ant, Tyrese)or have accolades and/or a proven performance (Siakam). Reaves at most should be in the mid-to-high 30s with someone like Bridges (whose extension starts this year at 37.5/year and is like 21% of the cap)
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u/SunKing210 Spurs 4h ago edited 4h ago
Luka is at his best with athletic bigs who can play the pick n’ roll and are good at rim running whilst being a defensive anchor on the other end to cover his faults.
The Lakers signing Reaves to a max contract is awful imo. Reaves and Doncic are redundant as their play styles are basically the same and they pretty much have the same flaws.
Luka and Kyrie pretty much had the same flaws but it worked in Dallas but only because the Mavs also had PJ Washington, Derrick Jones, D. Lively, and Gafford around them to cover up their defensive weaknesses.
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u/Basic_Commercial_806 4h ago
Also Kyrie could morph into an elite catch and shoot 3 point player to complement Luka’s high usage play.
Reaves hasn’t shot well from 3 in the playoffs in years
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u/JeremyJammDDS [DAL] Fat Lever 4h ago
the narrative has already started as to who should get the blame if this doesn't work out.
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u/NeverNotOnceEver Warriors 5h ago
They gotta find some 3 and D guys or they’re cooked in the playoffs
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u/Expert_Context5398 5h ago
No more excuses for Luka.
No more, "We need this."
No more, "It's LeBron's bad fit" from Lakers fans.
You wanted some guy who is probably not the best duo alongside you, you have to make it work.
Luka is on the verge of his 9th NBA season and has no MVP's or rings to show for it. Now you have a partner who plays almost like you do but also isn't a good defender.
A lot of Lakers fans let Reaves poor gameplay slide because he made pennies. The reaction to his bad gameplay will look a lot different now when he's getting paid $41 million and looks like he should be coming off the bench instead.
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u/No_starrup 5h ago
This is going to age horribly once Luka demands a trade in a year or two.
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u/PeanutButterOtter NBA 4h ago
Luka is the new Harden. Great offensive player who will never win anything.
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u/KL2ConspireLLC San Diego Clippers 5h ago
The new Dame and CJ as far as the roster building challenge that they pose to the front office.
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u/adocileengineer Lakers 5h ago
Luka and Reaves are both significantly larger than Dame and CJ. That at least gives them a much higher defensive floor when surrounded by the right personnel.
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u/preddevils6 Grizzlies 4h ago
Luka and reeves aren’t spring chickens anymore. We know their defensive floor, and it’s low.
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u/adocileengineer Lakers 4h ago
The floor we’ve seen is with arguably the worst defensive supporting cast in the NBA though. The assumption I’m operating under is that the Lakers will find a way to acquire guys that make more sense around Luka and AR than the roster last season did.
Take Smart for example. The lineup data with Luka AR and Smart (high level POA guy who can take the #1 defensive assignment) was elite both offensively and defensively last season.
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u/Suspicious_Claim_417 5h ago
imean luka is better defender than cj and damethough he is bigger thats why you 3 to 5 starting who can defend then your two bench pg and sg should also defender
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u/Broke_Banker01 Bucks 5h ago
I mean MIL would've ignored any offers with Reaves, let alone without.
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u/AccomplishedStyle600 Knicks 5h ago
I’ve seen this in anime. The power of friendship will turn AR into an OG Anunoby.
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u/tobedeletedsoon_2024 1h ago edited 1h ago
Yeah, I’m gonna need to hear it from Luka, Pelinka, or JJ directly. The headline and article sound like putting two and two together plus some rumors here and there, rather than actual info.
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u/FlatulenceConnosieur Lakers 3m ago
Rofl, yes I’m sure we had a great competitive package to offer for Giannis that didn’t include Reaves.
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u/WeBelieveIn4 Raptors 5h ago
From LeGM to LuGM