At his annual basketball camp in Arkansas with his brother, Austin Reaves spoke about his future with the Los Angeles Lakers.
There have been rumors that the Lakers could trade Reaves this offseason to acquire a center for Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
“I don’t pay attention to it,” Reaves told K8 News. “I keep my head down, work. And I feel like that’s one of the reasons I’m where I’m at.”
The Lakers were the third seed in the West this year. However, they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs in five games.
Reaves played well for the Lakers during the regular season. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 73 games while shooting 46.0% from the field, 37.7% from 3 and 87.7% from the foul line.
However, Reaves’ numbers went down in the Timberwolves series. The undrafted guard averaged 16.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 41.1% overall, 31.9% from 3 and 85.7% from the foul line.
Reaves played through a serious toe injury in the Minnesota series.
“I think the sky’s the limit for us,” Reaves said. “We’re moving in the right direction. Obviously, adding Luka, it gives you a hall of fame player at such a young age that you can build around. And then obviously, still having Bron, the IQ, and still running around at forty years old.
“But I want to be in LA. I want to play my whole career in LA. I love it there. I love the fans. Love the weather, love the golf. And obviously, the Lakers is the best organization in basketball.”
According to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times, the Lakers won’t trade Reaves unless they can acquire a “top-tier big.”
Reaves was the Lakers’ third-leading scorer this season behind Doncic and James.
“The team has shown no interest in using Reaves in a trade that nets them anything less than a top-tier big, and there really aren’t any of those available, with the two most common names linked to them in the earliest stages of the offseason — Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton and Dallas’ Daniel Gafford,” Woike wrote. “Neither is a lock for a variety of reasons.”
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