The speculation grows around the chances of another trade in Los Angeles following GM Rob Pelinka’s decision to ship out Anthony Davis for Luka Dončić. If it wasn’t evident before, it surely is now that the Lakers need a center. Giving up AD almost demands that Pelinka trades for someone to take Davis’s place. Could that trade involve the Utah Jazz? Could the Lakers trade Austin Reaves? The more important question is whether the Lakers even want to give up Reaves, who is having a career year. Kendrick Perkins believes this exact trade should happen now that Davis is gone.
Kendrick Perkins Calls For Second Big Lakers Trade
Lakers Trade Austin Reaves for Walker Kessler? ‘Package up Austin’, says Big Perk
The Lakers aren’t done—that is clearer now than when the D’Angelo Russell–Dorian Finney-Smith trade went down in early January. The Lakers now house a massive hole in their roster that Jaxson Hayes can’t begin to fill. If Pelinka doesn’t move on this urgent matter, the Lakers will need to score 130 points a night from here on out to win games. While the focus now shifts to replacing AD, the favored candidates remain available: Jonas Valančiūnas, Nikola Vučević, Myles Turner, Nic Claxton, and Walker Kessler in Utah. Perkins believes the Lakers should move on a trade involving Kessler and Reaves and spoke about it on the Road Trippin’ Podcast. [37:00 mark]
“With this roster, if the Lakers don’t make a move and keep this roster, their ceiling is a second-round exit. Now, if the Lakers go out and get the young fella from Utah, Walker Kessler, OK now they’re moving the needle. It may happen now. Two weeks ago Austin Reaves was untouchable. I guarantee, now you could put your hands on him [Kessler] right now, package up Austin.”
Kessler has been the subject of trade rumors involving the Lakers since the offseason, as has Valančiūnas. It was reported in December that the Lakers could have moved on the Washington Wizards big man in November, but nothing materialized. Kessler has overtaken Valančiūnas as the Lakers top center target since. However, Utah’s asking price is steep and likely would have to include Reaves.
No Longer Untouchable?
It’s hard to imagine a team not asking for Reaves in return for a top or second-tier center. If not Kessler, a trade for Turner or Vučević carries the risk of having to give up Reaves. He, Rui Hachimura, and Dalton Knecht were always believed to be untouchable. That said, Hachimura’s name has popped up recently as trade bait, but that doesn’t mean the Lakers stance on him has changed. Reaves now, especially with AD gone, is the Lakers most valuable trade asset. Are the Lakers willing to let him go in exchange for a greater need in the overall roster?
Regardless, watch out for another move, whether Perkins is on the right track with his Reaves-Kessler take or something else develops. It’s hard to imagine the Lakers will take a back seat now.
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