The Los Angeles Lakers are gearing up for a massive summer! In fact, that might’ve already started as the Purple & Gold saw a major off-court move executed. After 46 years and 11 championships, the Buss family handed the reins of this illustrious franchise to Dodgers owner Mark Walter at a staggering $10 billion valuation. Now, with their pockets deeper than ever before, the Lakers are starting a massive overhaul in the infrastructure of the franchise over the next few years. However, will a change in their ownership also translate onto the court? Well, not exactly.

We all know that Los Angeles needs to bolster their ranks before it enters the next season. Although their focus is on finding a starting center, they also need good wings. In fact, they’ve set their eyes on the free agency to acquire Minnesota’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker and New Orleans’ Bruce Brown, both of whom will be comparatively cheap and solid additions to their roster. However, there’s a problem. Why? Simply because the Lakers have a huge wage bill, and before they can add, they’ll have to subtract. So, shipping players appears to be the most obvious solution, right?

However, LA can add a few players if their superstar, LeBron James, who’s yet to give his nod to the $54.1 million player option for the next season, agrees to a pay cut. Yes, you heard us, the veteran could give his team a bit of cap space by taking a pay cut. But will the veteran sacrifice his salary to accommodate NAW and Brown? The Athletic’s Jovan Buha thinks that’s unlikely.

“I would say it is unlikely. This would require LeBron to take somewhere between a $15 to $20 million pay cut. They could sign NAW in that case to the non-taxpayer MLE, which should be his range. He might get a little bit more than that, but that’s probably in a fair value range for him, Bruce Brown. I mentioned him as a potential vet minimum guy. So, if you get NAW with the non-taxpayer MLE and Bruce Brown with a minimum contract, that would be the way to get both of those guys.” Buha said on his podcast, Buha’s Block.

According to Buha, landing both Alexander-Walker and Brown will require James to take at least a $15 million pay cut. How this would work is that LeBron James would opt out of his player option and sign a new deal with LA with a decreased salary. If the Lakers had their way with the 40-year-old, they could find a way to fit both these valuable players into the roster, giving LA that depth at the two and three positions. Depth has been something LA has lacked this season, and both these guys have shown incredible ability to score off the bench.

Nonetheless, we must not get our hopes too high, as Buha also pointed out that James taking a pay cut seems highly unlikely, leaving the Lakers in the exact same spot as before. Meanwhile, it seems the Lakers’ problems just got worse, as Austin Reaves’ situation takes a new turn.

Austin Reaves’ situation in Los Angeles gets worse

Apart from a big question mark over LeBron James’ future in Southern California, if there’s another name that’s the talk of the town, it’s Austin Reaves. The shooting guard is coming off a spectacular campaign, and while you might think that he’s gearing up for another great one, that’s not the case. The 27-year-old guard has been linked with a number of moves since the Los Angeles Lakers exited the postseason. Although the front office is yet to make a decision on that, many believe that trading him in exchange for a starting big man might be the best for the franchise.

However, a few also believe that it might be good for Reaves to act as the sixth man for the upcoming campaign, even if he remains a Laker. But why? To put it bluntly, it’s because of his compatibility with Luka Doncic. While the two make up for one of the most offensively talented backcourts in the NBA, defensively, they’re a burden. So, will making a player as good as Austin Reaves come off the bench be a good decision? Jovan Buha says not at all.

“I would say trading him would be the better thing now. If you could build a roster where it made sense to bring him off the bench and potentially reduce his role a little bit, sure. Like if if you had a you know a Boston Celtics level starting five and Austin’s your sixth-man then that’s a loaded team that I could see, that making some sense, but if it’s just purely like moving him to the bench and potentially playing him less and thinking that staggering him and Luka more is just going to be the better option, I don’t think that makes sense.” Buha said.

Sure enough, moving him to the bench just because you don’t want to play him and Doncic doesn’t make much sense. After all, Reaves has averaged a stunning 20.2 points along with 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists. Even though he might not be the greatest two-way guard, his offensive prowess is too much to be a sixth man, that too, in an LA roster that doesn’t have much depth.

Buha then stated that if that’s the case, then cashing in on Austin Reaves might be the answer, which makes much more sense. However, these are mere speculations at this point, as everyone eagerly awaits the Lakers’ decision on AR.