Add former Phoenix Suns GM Ryan McDonough to the list of people who think parting ways with Austin Reaves might be what’s best for the Los Angeles Lakers. During an appearance on Deals and Dunks on SiriusXM NBA Radio, McDonough cast doubt on whether the Lakers can win a championship with Reaves and Luka Doncic as their best players.
“I think it’s something that the Lakers need to look at,” McDonough said. “And you’re right, I mean, historically to compete for a championship, to potentially win a championship, you can’t have your two best players be so deficient on one end. I mean, Luka is maybe the best offensive player in the league, certainly in the top five.
“Austin Reaves has really ascended as one of the better offensive players,” McDonough continued. “But Luka, in particular, defensively really struggles. I’d say that’s an understatement. Reaves struggles, so constructing the rest of your roster is so hard… Schematically and from a coaching standpoint, you can kinda hide one guy like that. But trying to hide two? Well, somebody’s going to have to guard one of those guys, and they’re not going to be able to do it.”
These concerns have existed for a while now. Can you have two poor defenders in your backcourt and win a championship? Well, history says you won’t.
Then again, we did see a backcourt of Doncic and Kyrie Irving lead the Dallas Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals. Sure, they lost in five games to the Boston Celtics, but that was primarily due to Irving and the supporting cast struggling mightily on offense. There was a lot of talk about the Mavericks’ defense in that series, but the Celtics didn’t get to 110 points in any of the five games.
If the Mavericks had played up to their capabilities on offense, they could have potentially won. So, it’s not impossible, but it is difficult. The Lakers will need to surround Doncic and Reaves with good defenders, the way the Mavericks had done. You had the likes of PJ Washington, Derrick Jones Jr., Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Lively II on that team.
The issue with the Lakers is that Jarred Vanderbilt and Marcus Smart are the only good defenders on the roster. It’s going to be difficult to put together the ideal supporting cast around Doncic and Reaves. The easier option would be to trade the latter and get the right pieces next to the former.
Reaves would fetch the Lakers a pretty good haul. The 27-year-old has averaged 26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game in 2025-26, while shooting 50.7% from the field. He was looking like one of the better players in the NBA before he went down with a calf injury.
Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul did suggest that the Lakers trade Reaves for Jaren Jackson Jr. from the Memphis Grizzlies. While Paul got a lot of backlash and understandably so, a strong defensive player like Jackson is certainly what they should target if they do look into parting ways with the guard.
The Lakers haven’t really shown any interest in trading Reaves, though. He instead looks set to get a massive deal from them in the summer when he is expected to become an unrestricted free agent by opting out of his $14.9 million player option for 2026-27.
Reaves will be eligible to sign a five-year, $241 million deal, and former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas has warned the Lakers that they’ll go back 10 years if they give it to him. It will be interesting to see what happens in the summer.
As for the here and now, Reaves is inching closer to a return from his calf injury. He is expected to be back at some point during this eight-game road trip that the Lakers are currently on. They have gone 1-1 in their first two games and will take on the Mavericks next at American Airlines Center on Saturday at 8:30 PM ET.
