The Golden State Warriors are tied for the second-best odds to land Austin Reaves if the Los Angeles Lakers decide to deal him in the offseason.
The Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks are tied at +500, trailing the betting favorites New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Lakers’ crosstown rivals Clippers (+400) on online sportsbook Bovada.
Not far behind are the Boston Celtics (+600). Completing the list are the group of Oklahoma City Thunder (+1000) and the group of Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic, all tied at +1200 and the Charlotte Hornets (+1600).
On the “NBA Today” on Thursday, ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks listed the Warriors’ offseason priorities.
One of them is the need for a reliable third scorer behind their stars Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.
“I think the playoffs showed the need for a consistent third scorer and certainly front court help,” Mark said.
Reaves fits the bill after emerging as the Lakers’ third star this past season.
The 26-year-old undrafted guard is coming off a breakout season, in which he averaged a career-best 20.2 points on 46% overall shooting and 37.7% from the 3-point line, 4.8 assists against 2.2 turnovers.
Austin Reaves Will Get Traded, Bill Simmons Says
Getty Austin Reaves is the Los Angeles Lakers’ biggest trade chip to acquire an All-Star big man.
Reaves found himself in the trade rumor mill as Bill Simmons of The Ringer boldly declared the Lakers’ third star would be traded this offseason.
“When Reaves gets traded this summer — and he WILL get traded – the stuff they [Lakers] get back for him is gonna make it seem worse that they [Mavericks] didn’t get him in the trade,” Simmons said on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” on May 11.
Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike wrote that Reaves isn’t untouchable. However, the Lakers will only trade their homegrown star on one condition.
“[Reaves] is not viewed as “untradeable” because almost no one in the NBA is untradeable. But if the Lakers are going to trade him for a center, they’re going to want one that is foundationally important — a build-around type and not a fill-in toward the obvious need they have at center (and will need to address in other ways).
“If one of the best centers in the NBA were available, the conversations might be different, but at least now, during the first part of the offseason, that just isn’t the case,” Woike wrote in his LA Times’ Lakers newsletter on Thursday.
The Warriors, however, do not have what the Lakers desperately need.
If they are to acquire Reaves, it may be in a multi-team trade where the Lakers’ star goes to the Warriors in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga and draft capital — they can trade up to four first-round picks after the draft — to a team that will furnish the Lakers a starting-caliber center.
The Looming Jonathan Kuminga Decision
The biggest domino for the Warriors’ offseason is Kuminga, who has shown flashes during his up-and-down first four years at Golden State.
Steve Kerr’s decision to yank him out of his playoff rotation says a lot about his future or lack thereof in the Bay Area.
Kuminga only played when Curry or Butler were unavailable during their postseason run that ended with a five-game loss in the second round.
According to The Athletic, the Warriors are expected to extend Kuminga his $7.9 million qualifying offer will make him a restricted free agent in July to have leverage. They can match any offer sheet Kuminga might receive from another team or work with him in a sign-and-trade to get a player, ideally a center or a reliable third scorer, back.
