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Austin Reaves in the middle of breakout season, showing that he can be one of the best attacking talents in the NBA. Right after he collected 31 points 31 points and gathered nine rebounds in the latest Battle of LA to guide the Lakers to claim the win, an unexpected trade idea surfaced online.
Anthony Abdul Alcindor, a close friend of LeBron James and a famous social media personality, says that the Lakers should consider moving Reaves if they want a chance at landing Giannis Antetokounmpo. Better known as @CuffsTheLegend, Alcindor justified himself after the Lakers' 135-118 win on Thursday.
He said that with Reaves playing at an almost All-Star level, his value is big and the team could take advantage of that by making him the focal point of the trade package. In his view, dealing Reaves along with other things could potentially lead to the Lakers' star trio consisting of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Giannis Antetkounmpo.
“if the Lakers really really want Giannis to wear a Lakers uniform and win chips with Luka.. this is the perfect pathway,” @CuffsTheLegend wrote on X.
If Rob Pelinka were to think of a move for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks's asking price would be huge. Reaves would likely be just the starting point. The Lakers might have to consist of key rotation players like Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Dalton Knecht, along with a plethora of draft assets, to pull off such an amazing deal.
Although there is no denying in Austin Reaves' amazing ongoing campaign. He ranks 12th in the league with 27.9 points per game and the 11th among all players with 7.0 assists per game. If he maintains this level of work rate, he could have a strong case for his first All-Star selection.
Austin Reaves drops assessment after Lakers topping NBA Cup group
The win at the Crypto.com Arena not only extended their streak to five games, but it also improved them to a perfect 3-0 in the NBA Cup. That was enough to secure the top spot in the Western Conference Group B and clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Lakers struggled in the first quarter, trailing by a point. However, JJ Redick's side regrouped and bounced back to finish with a 17-point win. After the game, Austin Reaves discussed change in approach.
“We just played the right way. Took open shots, but just stuck to schemes and got the ball where we wanted to get it,” Reaves said (timestamp 0:10 onwards). “Especially with Bron and Luka, they demand such a double team a lot of the games and that means someone's going to be open and you can play four on three basketball.”
LA will stay one more group matchup on Friday when they host the Dallas Mavericks. The result will not affect their position in the NBA Cup.
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