The 2025 NBA free agency class is considered much weaker than previous years, but there are plenty of guys on the open market who will be able to make an impact wherever they go.
The Sacramento Kings, unfortunately, are on the wrong end of one of their players hitting free agency. At February's trade deadline, the Kings acquired Jake LaRavia from the Memphis Grizzlies, and the 23-year-old wing Jake LaRavia made an instant impact in Sacramento.
Through 19 appearances, LaRavia averaged 6.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.9 steals through 19.3 minutes per game, and all Kings fans would love for him to return next season. However, that scenario is very unlikely.
Before trading him to the Kings, the Grizzlies declined LaRavia's team option for the 2025-26 season, and now Sacramento is severely limited in what they can offer him in free agency.
Jake LaRavia on his future, heading into free agency:
"I could definitely see myself back here in Sac. I really enjoyed Doug as the coach. Him getting that job, I would enjoy that..."
"I thought this was a very beneficial move for me and I thought it played out really well."— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) April 17, 2025
LaRavia has made it clear that he is open to a return to Sacramento, but he certainly deserves more of a payday than the Kings can offer him. However, there is a new fear among Kings fans: LaRavia could sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
In a recent video interview with the NBA Front Office podcast with Trevor Lane and Keith Smith, LaRavia was asked if there is any possibility of him joining the Lakers in free agency. While LaRavia did not answer, he flashed the camera over to a surprise guest, who was with him the entire time, Lakers star Austin Reaves.
On the Front Office Show, @KeithSmithNBA and I just did a nearly 30 min interview with Kings forward Jake LaRavia. We had no idea who was driving the car. This is the end of that interview... pic.twitter.com/LbeELc9Ak4
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) June 19, 2025
LaRavia is from Los Angeles, so the chances of him signing with his hometown team if given the chance are pretty high, especially if he is already hanging out with Reaves. Trevor Lane pleads for Reaves to recruit LaRavia to the Lakers, as the free agent wing would be an incredible addition in LA to help with their depth concerns.
Many fans reacted to this clip of LaRavia and Reaves together, as most of the crowd had a similar response.
"yeah he’s a laker," one fan replied.
"Bron put Austin on a mission 😂😂," another fan said.
"Oh no," KingsMuse posted.
"He's gone," a Kings fan predicted.
"AR out here recruiting already. Lakers keep this man a Laker for life!" another fan said.
Of course, the Kings want to do anything in their power to keep LaRavia around. There was already a low chance that they would be able to hang on to the free agent wing, and now that the Lakers are potentially interested, the Kings should certainly start looking for his replacement.
