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4 hours ago
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The Houston Rockets are down a ball-handler with Fred VanVleet being out for the season with a torn ACL. Now, they need to go out and find a replacement for him to make sure they stay as competitive a team as possible in the Western Conference.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale believes that the answer to their problem is Los Angeles Lakers superstar Austin Reaves, who is currently in the last year of his contract with the Lakers.
Fred VanVleet's ACL injury has left the Houston Rockets without a proven primary ball-handler who's also a floor-spacing threat. And barring a sudden breakout from sophomore Reed Sheppard, the answer doesn't appear to be in-house…At any rate, Houston has other assets that would interest L.A., including Tari Eason and nine incoming first-round picks. Any deal may need to be expanded to include more players and teams, but the Rockets and Lakers have the supplemental mid-end salaries to figure out something—so long as L.A. is enamored with more of a draft-pick-centric return,” Favale wrote.
This season, Reaves is averaging 34.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. He’s doing this without LeBron James, who’s been out with injury since the first game of the season, and Luka Doncic, who's been on and off the court with injury problems.
MORE: Lakers predicted to cut ties with Austin Reaves, deal him to former blockbuster trade partner
This could be a more viable trade for Reaves, as the Lakers are looking toward a Doncic-led Lakers team in the near future. Getting young talent to grow with Doncic and keep their payroll low might be in their best interest.
However, for the Rockets, they would have to commit to Reaves, who’s expected to make around $40 million per year on his next contract. Hopefully, they do commit, as they already have Kevin Durant, who’s in a win-now mindset. Combining him with Reaves, Alperen Sengun, and Amen Thompson, the sky’s the limit for the Rockets.
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