Polarizing Lakers guard is a sneaky perfect target for Rockets

This year’s postseason was disappointing for Rockets fans, as their team lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Houston entered the series with every reason to believe it could advance, especially with the Lakers dealing with injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Despite the Lakers’ injuries, Houston’s lack of shooting and shot creation sunk them.

Now, heading into a potentially transformative offseason, Houston needs to address those concerns. The best option may come from the very team that exposed their flaws in the playoffs.

Austin Reaves is an ideal fit in Houston

Austin Reaves is expected to enter free agency this offseason and will be in line for a huge raise. This season, he put up a career high in points and showed that he can have an All-Star-level impact on the right team.

Are the Lakers that team? The issue with Reaves is his athleticism, which prevents him from being a plus defender. Luka Doncic has similar limitations. Having both Reaves and Doncic playing heavy minutes is a big reason why the Lakers finished the season 20th in defensive rating.

Houston may be a much better fit for Reaves. The Rockets were a standout defensive team, finishing sixth in defensive rating. They also have one of the best perimeter defenders in the league in Amen Thompson. He would help Reaves tremendously.

In turn, Reaves would directly address Houston’s biggest flaws. He is a very good shooter and an even better shot creator in the half court. His specialty is working past bigger, more athletic defenders to make tough baskets. That would be a huge boost for a Rockets team that had too many possessions stall out in the postseason.

How could Houston obtain Reaves?

This is the compelling question. Reaves is expected to decline his player option and enter free agency, but Houston does not have the cap space to sign him outright. Therefore, the only realistic way to obtain Reaves would be to work with the Lakers on a sign-and-trade.

Sign-and-trades do not provide the same return value to the team losing the player as a regular trade. So, in that sense, Houston could get Reaves at a slight discount. However, enticing Reaves to leave Los Angeles may be more difficult. It would require Houston making an offer big enough to test how committed the Lakers really are to keeping him next to Doncic.

Overpaying for a player can be risky, but in Houston’s case, it may be the only option if they want to obtain a player who can do everything Reaves can. Houston should give the Lakers a call this offseason to see what the price would be.

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