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Ex-NBA Star Urges Lakers to Put Austin Reaves on Trade Market

Former LA Clippers legend Lou Williams believes the Lakers need to put everyone besides LeBron James and Luka Doncic on the trade block
Colby Faria|
Apr 6, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) looks down court against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Apr 6, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) looks down court against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles ClippersLos Angeles LakersMinnesota Timberwolves

What will the Los Angeles Lakers' roster look like next season?

On Wednesday night, the Lakers' season came to a disappointing end when they lost 103-96 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, dropping the series 4-1.

While the Lakers were able to remain competitive throughout the series while playing without a true center, Game 5 was dominated by Timberwolves All-Star big man, Rudy Gobert, who scored 27 points and grabbed 24 rebounds, nine of which were offensive boards, and the Timberwolves seemingly scored on each of those second chances.

Rudy Gober
Apr 30, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) gets the ball against Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) during the first half in game five of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

J.J. Reddick trotted out a lineup of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith for nearly the entire game; the tallest player donning gold and purple was the 6-foot-9, 40-year-old James.

With their season officially over, the focus now turns to the off-season for Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers' front office, which will likely begin with exploring options in the big man market.

Former Los Angeles Clippers star, Lou Williams, believes the Lakers should go against what many fans believe and make Austin Reaves available in a potential trade for a game-changing big man.

"I think everything is on the table besides LeBron [James] and Luka [Doncic] and it should be Austin Reaves as well but the fans think differently" Williams said on Run It Back. "They gotta get bigger and they gotta get stronger at the center position. I know they like to play that small ball but they gotta go out there and find a guy that's going to fit that mold and you gotta get a big body."

Williams named several All-Star big man in the Western Conference as the reasoning he believes the Lakers need to address the center position this summer.

"Rudy Gobert having a 20 and 20 game, you got [Nikola] Jokic up the street and he's not going anywhere and you're gonna have to battle him, you got Anthony Davis still around, so, you gotta find somebody that's going to in there and that's going to compete with these guys and that'll give you an opportunity to win basketball games when the game does go big."

The Lakers have many decisions to make this off-season, most notably the decision of 40-year-old LeBron James, who, while continuing to play at an All-Star level in 2025, hinted at considering retirement once he was able to play with his son, Bronny, which he did this season.

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Colby Faria
COLBY FARIA

Colby’s decade-plus sports writing experience spans across the likes of various sports, which includes bylines at the likes of CBS and Bleacher Report.

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