Lakers Reportedly Have 'Very High Threshold' For Making Any Trades of Substance

Some key Los Angeles pieces may be borderline-untouchable.

Sep 25, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka at press conference at UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Are the Los Angeles Lakers overvaluing some of their young, homegrown talent?

That appears to be possible with regards to at least three young Lakers guards in particular, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic. In a recent mailbag episode of his podcast "Buha's Block," he was asked by a fan if he thought the Lakers would be open to parting ways with rookie shooting guard Dalton Knecht, L.A.'s No. 17 pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, or third-year swingman Max Christie, who inked a generous four-year, $32 million restricted free agent deal to stay in town this summer.

The question came with a caveat: would the Lakers be willing to make a move if they were a top-four seed in the Western Conference by the trade deadline?

“This is an interesting one,” Buha said. “Honestly, if the Lakers are top four in the West, I don’t know if I’d mess with it."

“It would have to be a no-brainer to trade either one of those guys, and I think based on the way that the Lakers have valued both Max and Austin [Reaves] in recent years, going back to the Kyrie [Irving] situation at the 2023 trade deadline, when the Lakers didn’t want to put Austin or Max in a potential trade for Kyrie," Buha noted. "I look at Austin as a guy that (there is a) very high threshold for them to trade, and then I think the same will likely apply to Max and to Dalton."

Reaves, who still presumably has room to grow at age 26, is in the second season of a below-market four-year, $54 million deal he inked with Los Angeles last summer. In 2023-24, the Oklahoma product averaged 15.9 points on .486/.367/.853 shooting splits, 5.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 0.8 steals a night, while playing all 82 games (57 starts) for the 47-35 Lakers.

Christie, 21, played sparingly for Los Angeles during his first two pro seasons out of MSU. He has assumed a bigger rotation role this preseason as a reserve, averaging 7.8 points on a middling .367/.278/1.000 slash line, plus 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per bout. Knecht, 23, has had a more sizable impact thus far, averaging 13.8 points while slashing .396/.270/.750, along with 3.5 boards, 2.3 dimes, 1.3 swipes and 0.5 rejections a night in his four preseason games.

“So, I think it’s gonna have to be — I don’t wanna say like an All-Star level player because I think’s there’s exceptions — but it would probably have to be that type of guy where the Lakers could cobble together a Vando [Jarred Vanderbilt] or a Gabe [Vincent] or maybe both and then throw in one of the young guys and then a pick or two for that type of no-brainer upgrade,” Buha said. Vanderbilt and Vincent both underwhelmed during their 2023-24 runs with Los Angeles, but are on sizable deals that could help make trades for veterans palatable.

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