Column: A painful truth: Lakers must trade Austin Reaves

I love him like you love him.

But it’s time.

Austin Reaves is the Lakers’ breath of fresh air, a sharpshooting respite from all the drama and dirge, a stirring journey from undrafted to indefatigable. My favorite, everybody’s favorite.

But it’s time.

If the Lakers are going to get where they need to be, they’ll have to get there without Austin Reaves. If the Lakers truly value the acquisition of a big man, they’re going to have to get rid of the little fella.

Damn, I hate writing these next three words.

Trade Austin Reaves.

Send him packing in a deal that brings the Lakers the sort of lob partner and rim protector whose absence knocked you out of the postseason. Use him as the most attractive asset that could lure the sort of behemoth that could help this group bully their way back into contention.

You say you want to build around Luka Doncic? Start with uprooting Reaves.

You say you want LeBron James to have one more chance at glory before he retires? It’s never going to happen while running next to Reaves.

Six months ago, this whole idea was absurd. For a while last season, Reaves was the vital cog in a Lakers offense that transitioned from Anthony Davis to Doncic while maintaining Reaves’ spot as a powerful No. 3 option.

He averaged a career-high 20 points, six assists and five rebounds. He made a team-high 73 starts. He was their leader in consistency and conscience, playing hard, playing hurt, always playing with intent.

Only 11 other NBA players averaged at least 20 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists. And only three players on that list were younger than Reaves at age 26.

He was the headband-wearing, scowl-showing oddball star of the show. He won the Christmas Day game with a last-second layup against Golden State. He scored 38 in a January win against Brooklyn. He scored 45 without Doncic or James in a February win against Indiana. He had 37 points and 13 assists in a shorthanded March loss in Denver that represented their most inspirational effort of the season.

By the end of the regular season he had moved from luxury to necessity, ballooning into the conversation as one of the Lakers Big Three untouchables.

Then, in five postseason game … Pop! … Psssst!

As the Lakers were losing four of five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Reaves was literally losing his footing with each dribble, struggling with a bruised toe and battered reputation.

He was lousy on offense, shooting barely 30% from deep. He was lousy on defense, constantly beaten by the Timberwolves’ more athletic backcourt. He was turned upside down by a physicality he could not match, and perhaps will never be able to match.

The moments when his best was required, he was at his worst. In every fourth quarter he disappeared as his team’s chance disappeared with him.

In the five fourth quarters he averaged three points. He scored one point in Game 3. He scored three points in Game 5.

In less than two weeks, he went from untouchable to untenable, and the new opinion on him is now clear.

If Austin Reaves is the Lakers’ third-best player, they’re going to have a difficult time winning a championship. If he’s in their Big 3, they don’t have a Big 3.

This is absolutely not to place the blame on Reaves for the loss to Minnesota. He was just a small part of everything that went wrong. But, unlike some diva stars from other losing teams, he boldly and publicly acknowledged his role in the carnage.

“Obviously I didn’t have the series that I wanted to have,” Reaves told reporters in his exit interview after the playoff series. “You could point the finger at me. I really don’t care. I wasn’t good enough to help us be successful and I wish I could have done more, but I didn’t. I struggled. You live and you learn.”

Problem is, he can’t learn to get taller, or learn to be more athletic, or learn to fit into an offense in which his strengths and weaknesses mirror those of Doncic, who needs a more complementary piece.

“… Quite frankly, nobody thought I was ever gonna be in this position,” he said. “So I’ve continued to prove myself over and over again. And, I’m gonna go to work and do the same thing next year. That’s really it. I just needed to be better and I wasn’t.”

That sort of honest introspection is just one reason why the Lakers players respect him as a locker-room leader and the Lakers’ front office loves him as, among other things, a relatively inexpensive $14-million asset. And yeah, fans dearly want him to do well, and would love it if he stayed here forever.

Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Austin Reaves slap hands after Finney-Smith made a three-pointer against the Timberwolves during a playoff game in Minneapolis.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

To be clear, the Lakers do not want to trade him, and there’s been no substantiated talk about trading him. James and Doncic do not want him gone. Around 19,000 at each home game do not want him gone.

But everybody knows the deal. To get something special, you’re going to have to give up something special.

If they have even a minuscule chance of acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo, any deal would have to include Reaves. If they want Joel Embiid, Reaves has to go. They could probably get Nic Claxton without Reaves in the deal, but don’t they need to do better than Nic Claxton?

In his exit interview, basketball boss Rob Pelinka made it clear that he saw what everyone else saw when Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert suddenly became Wilt Chamberlain. They desperately need a center, and when the Lakers desperately need something, they will stop at nothing to get it.

“It would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively, I think those would be key,” said Pelinka to reporters. “But there’s multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim. We’ll look at those as well. So I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”

He pretty much covered every coveted big man in the league with that quote, didn’t he? Here’s guessing if the Lakers can get the right center, Reaves’ future here doesn’t stand a chance.

Not that the lack of size is the only large Laker problem going into the summer.

Despite all the Luuu-kaaa love, the Lakers also have a Doncic problem. As even the average fan could see, he needs to be in better shape. Minnesota players ran past him like he was standing still, which he usually was. He unofficially led the series in, “Out of breath.” It was so obvious, later coach JJ Redick appeared to direct criticism toward him when talking about what his team needs to do in the summer.

“I’ll start with the … work that’s required in an offseason to be in championship shape,” Redick said to reporters in a quote that will be repeated throughout training camp. “And we have a ways to go as a roster. And certainly, there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape. There’s certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That’s where my mind goes immediately is we have to get in championship shape.”

Lakers guard Austin Reaves, center, has a similar skillset as All-Star teammate Luka Doncic (77), but the team really needs a big man to complement the starting five.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Considering James is nightly lauded for being in “phenomenal” shape, one can only assume that Redick is pointing his “could have been in better shape” arrow directly at Doncic.

Will Luka listen? Will Luka change? Will Luka finally realize that his poor conditioning was his beloved Dallas Mavericks’ main reason for foolishly giving him away, and, while the Mavericks were robbed in the deal, all this talk of weight issues was absolutely true?

Doncic needs to shape up. And, addressing another Laker issue, Redick needs to shape up with him.

The coach had a rookie-of-the-year regular season, but, like his team, he melted down in the playoffs, absorbing public criticism from Magic Johnson after the first loss and then using the same five players the entire second half in their third loss. Before Game 5, Redick bristled at a reporter’s question that implied he needs to rely more on his veteran assistants, and then walked out of the news conference with enough purpose that many in the national media gleefully reported that he stormed out.

For the record, he did not storm out. The news conference had reached its natural conclusion. He simply left after an angry response, but considering how much he had struggled in playoff games, folks assumed he was throwing a hissy fit.

He will learn from that moment and every awkward playoff moment that preceded it. He better learn. Darvin Ham was fired for much less.

“I know I can be better,” Redick said. “I know I will … get better. I don’t necessarily take any satisfaction from how the year went. That’s not to say I’m not proud of what the group was able to do, and how we were able to figure things out on the fly, and put ourselves in a position to have home court in the first round, but there’s always ways to get better and I can get a lot better.”

Meanwhile, there’s only one reasonable way his team can get a lot better, quick, which brings this reluctantly penned column to its sorry completion.

I’ll hate, hate, hate saying farewell to Austin Reaves.

But, it’s time.