We think this trade for Austin Reeves makes the Utah Jazz instantly better
By Chad Porto
The Los Angeles Lakers are about to blow things up. LeBron James is likely to opt out of his contract with the Lakers, according to Brian Windhorst, and D'Angelo Russell's reputation has been destroyed by his constant shortcomings in the playoffs, and Anthony Davis is a walking meme, whose trade value has been drastically cut in half by his team's poor outing. The Lakers have no pieces to trade and few draft picks left to utilize. It's time to blow things up in Los Angeles. If James does leave, the Lakers have no reason to keep any of these players.
Which means a fire sale. The Utah Jazz should keep an eye out on this whole situation. While we're not overly sold on Davis, as he'd likely command more capital (and salary) than he's worth at his age, the Jazz could still go in on Austin Reeves, one of the few players from their 4-1 series loss to the Denver Nuggets that actually hauled it on both ends of the court.
The Lakers aren't going to be competing anytime soon without James, so the Jazz should take advantage of a team about to freefall.
If the Lakers can't keep James, they're going to blow things up. They don't have any other real move left that makes sense. That means getting what they can for players and starting over. Reeves isn't worth three first-round picks, but we're being generous as we think he makes the jazz significantly better. He's a solid defender and a much better scorer than people give him credit for.
We'd like to make this trade happen with just two draft picks, and if we can we will, but Reeves would be a great fit alongside either Collin Sexton, Kris Dunn, or Keyonte George at point guard (we're hoping for Dunn), while allowing the team the flexibility to land a major wing player.