Jovan Buha laid out the price on his podcast Buha’s Block, and it was Austin Reaves. The Los Angeles Lakers were not willing to pay it, so Kyrie Irving stayed in Dallas.
Buha, who covers the Lakers for his own show, said the team had a path to pair Irving with Luka Doncic again and chose a different one.
“Lakers could have had Kyrie if they were willing to give up Austin, and they said no,” Buha said on a recent live stream of the podcast.
Irving, a nine-time All-Star and the man who hit the title-winning three for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, is still a Dallas Maverick. He is 34, and he spent the whole 2025-26 season out after tearing the ACL in his left knee on 3 March 2025, according to Yahoo Sports.
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A pattern around Reaves, not a one-off
Buha framed the Irving block as part of a bigger line the Lakers have held. On the same podcast he said the team has turned down approaches for Reaves tied to Dejounte Murray, Zach LaVine, De’Aaron Fox and Trae Young, and that the asking price now sits in the Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey, Scottie Barnes and Jaylen Brown range.
Reaves re-signed with the Lakers over the summer on a four-year, $180 million deal, which only hardens the stance. He is not a throw-in anymore, he is a long-term building block the front office wants next to Doncic.
Doncic says the roster is already “very deep”
Doncic has not spoken publicly about the rejected Irving framework, but his read on the current group is on record. After three exhibition games, he told reporters he liked what he had around him.
“I think we’re very deep, which is very important, especially going to the playoffs,” Doncic said, as reported by Lakers Nation from Chris Mannix’s Sports Illustrated reporting. “And we have guys that are not afraid.”
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Nine new players joined the Lakers in the offseason overhaul around Doncic. Keeping Reaves was the one piece of continuity the front office refused to break.
Irving is nearly back on the floor in Dallas
The Lakers’ decision also runs into Irving’s own timetable. He has been working his way back from the ACL tear and a calf strain picked up in rehab, and he is set to make his return in the Mavericks’ second preseason game against the Houston Rockets in Macao, China on Sunday, 11 October 2026, according to ClutchPoints.
Irving said in Dallas he feels “definitely close to being over at 100% in terms of my ACL recovery,” per the ClutchPoints report. That return happens in a Mavericks jersey, not a Lakers one.
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