The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the 2025 NBA Playoffs earlier than anyone had expected, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves in only five games.
Now that the offseason is officially upon us, general manager Rob Pelinka is tasked with making the necessary adjustments to put this roster in a position to contend for a championship once the 2025-26 season tips off.
Conventional thinking will tell you that the only untouchables on the roster are LeBron James, assuming he elects to continue his career, and Luka Doncic, the cornerstone of the future in Los Angeles. While others have suggested that Austin Reaves is in that group, the Purple and Gold need an upgrade at the center position. Dangling the talented guard out there could be their best option at pulling off such a move.
Lakers Demand 'Top-Tier Big' in Potential Austin Reaves Trade
Other teams know that the Lakers need to make a move for a center, and that was a talking point throughout the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. While Pelinka would prefer to keep Reaves in the fold, the front office knows that adding a big man who works well with Doncic is paramount to the team's success and will have to operate accordingly to get that done.
"The team has shown no interest in using Reaves in a trade that nets them anything less than a top-tier big," The Los Angeles Times' Dan Woike reported. "There really aren’t any of those available, with the two most common names linked to them in the earliest stages of the offseason — Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton and Dallas’ Daniel Gafford."
Pelinka and the rest of the team's brain trust must determine Reaves' value compared to a big man like Gafford or Claxton. Both big men offer skills the Lakers are severely lacking right now, as lob threats and rim protectors.
Los Angeles would prefer to bring a bigger name into the fold, but from a basketball point of view, both Gafford and Claxton would represent the type of center that would be most effective alongside a playmaker like Doncic.
There is plenty of time between now and the NBA Draft, and Lakers fans will continue to hear rumors involving the team and their pursuit of a center. Whether or not Reaves is used as a tool to solve that issue remains to be seen.