Markkanen for Reaves? Lakers Supporters Spark Heated Trade Debate

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen has long been a trade rumor target but never seemingly a completed trade out. With Markkanen sparkling at EuroBasket 2025, once again there has been some buzz about him going elsewhere, and a Los Angeles Lakers fan account on X asked users if they’d trade Austin Reaves for him.

“Yeah, no doubt. 6’11 non-posseession 3-point shooting style tailored better to a Luka Doncic rather than a 2-Guard who relies on getting fouled off the dribble,” another fan would sacrifice Reaves without any hesitation.

“Yes, but Jazz would not take that offer; they’d want more. Imo, I’d 100% make this trade and not hesitate,” this fan would make this trade but believes Jazz wouldn’t take this.

“There’s a ~$40M difference in salaries this season. It would require a lot more from the Lakers (4-5 players) to match salaries.

“Lauri has a massive contract; if it wasn’t that then this would be a absolute no-brainer. Even without the big contract, I think this is a necessity upgrade,” another fan would seal it though having a difference in salaries complicates things.

The deals definitely make this a tough trade to finalize. Markkanen will be earning $46.4 million in 2025-26 while Reaves will be earning $13.9 million. It will then become the responsibility of the Lakers to bring some other players into the trade equation and players like Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber, and Jarred Vanderbilt would be the likely selections.

The Jazz might want to trade for Vincent and Kleber because they will be in the last season of their deals. Vanderbilt has two years left on his contract and a player option and no team would be too keen on trading for him at this time.

Possibly unbundling Hachimura and Reaves might not be of interest to the Lakers if they trade for Markkanen. If there is a way out though, if they go ahead? Then again, we have some points to laud and some to criticize here.

Markkanen struggled in the 2024-25 season, averaging only 19.0 points, 5.9 boards, 1.5 assists, 0.7 thefts, and 0.4 block shots per game for the Jazz. He made a career-low 42.3% shooting percentage from the floor too, but this makes you think twice. Considering how extraordinarily he’d performed in both previous seasons, though, this was likely a fluke. Markkanen put up 24.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc for the Jazz from 2022-23 to 2023-24. The 28-year-old has also been on fire for Finland at EuroBasket, averaging 29.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 40.7% from three. His shooting makes him a solid fit next to Luka Doncic offensively, and the Lakers certainly could do with his rebounding prowess as well.

One area of worry though is that Markkanen is not a good defender. It was difficult for the Lakers to defend against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the playoffs, and they’d be surrendering a good defender like Vincent in this trade as well. So, they’d be way weaker on defense if they trade for this.

Markkanen’s contract is a massive one as well and he’s entering his first season of his four-year, $195 million contract. We can say that the former All-Star isn’t even deserving to be on this level of contract because of today’s apron rules.

Reaves is due a massive payday sometime in the near future, too, as he will become unrestricted free agent in 2026 if he exercises his player option but will decline it. His own contract will not be quite as large, however. He will be due a contract in excess of $30 million annually, which is a bit more manageable. He’s only 27 years old.

Reaves averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 boards, 5.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.3 blocks per evening in the 2024-25 season for the Lakers. He has progressively gotten better season after season and has stated he would like to be a Laker for life but we’ll all be eager to find out how both sides negotiate during the off-season.