[Woike] defensive concerns about a Dončić-and-Reaves pairing are overstated, one team source said. Reaves was also one of the most important voices inside the Lakers’ locker room… “You can’t let a talent like that walk,” one Western Conference executive said. “That would be a disaster.”
Why would he leave all this? Well, money for one.
This isn’t a greed thing so much as it is a value thing, and in the NBA, salary is the best way you show a player he’s valued. And Reaves’ entire journey to the NBA has been defined by being undervalued.
So why should the Lakers be the ones to pay up?
Internally, there’s a strong desire to give Dončić the best-fitting teammates. And in addition to being a bit of a chameleon on the floor, Reaves fits a real roster need as a secondary playmaker who can create his own shot on the ball and be effective off of it.
Provided the Lakers address other needs on the wing and at the rim, defensive concerns about a Dončić-and-Reaves pairing are overstated, one team source said. Reaves was also one of the most important voices inside the Lakers’ locker room a season ago, his leadership developing year over year.
If the Lakers were competing against no one, maybe they could be more frugal in the negotiations and try to save every penny possible to throw at players who fit their other needs. If they do that, they risk losing Reaves to a better offer somewhere else.
“You can’t let a talent like that walk,” one Western Conference executive said. “That would be a disaster.”
That might mean paying more than the Lakers would ideally like — a problem they can solve down the road if it ever becomes one.
The general belief around the NBA — and one of the reasons most rivals expect the Lakers to get a deal done — is that they can’t lose Reaves for nothing and wouldn’t have a clean pathway to a player who could so easily slot next to Dončić.