Austin Reaves did not even technically arrive on the Los Angeles Lakers as a totally rostered participant. His preliminary contract as an undrafted free agent was a two-way deal. A robust summer time obtained him bumped as much as an ordinary deal and roster spot earlier than his 2021-22 rookie season started, however that set the stage for what the start of his profession has regarded like.
Yearly, Reaves is requested to show himself. Can this undrafted rookie play on a staff with championship hopes? Can he be the third-scorer and secondary after the Lakers traded away Russell Westbrook? Can he be a full-time starter? A core a part of a contender?
He is met each problem. His progress has been remarkably linear. His scoring has jumped 5.7, 2.9 and 4.3 factors per recreation with every successive season. His assists grew equally over his first three seasons earlier than plateauing final yr, when he all of a sudden needed to share the ground with two Corridor of Famers. A kind of Corridor of Famers, LeBron James, hasn’t but performed this season. Frankly, Reaves has been so good in Yr 5 that it would now be incumbent upon James to regulate to him.
By means of 5 video games, Reaves is averaging 34.2 factors and 10 assists per recreation. On Wednesday, he despatched the identical Minnesota Timberwolves staff that bottled him up within the first spherical final season residence on a game-winning buzzer-beating runner. Regardless of scoring 28 factors within the victory, he is been so scorching currently that his scoring common went down after the sport.
At this level, his profitable five-year partnership with James is a lesser concern. Actually, it is the opposite Corridor of Famer that issues right here, as a result of every thing the Los Angeles Lakers have completed since buying Luka Dončić has seemingly been to land precisely the type of co-star Reaves is turning into.
They’ve hoarded cap area for max free brokers. They’ve preserved draft picks figuring out they will have three first-rounders to deal this offseason. Renouncing the Mark Williams commerce was primarily a medical situation, sure, but it surely’s exhausting to not view it as an asset-allocation matter as nicely. Why take this type of danger on an injured function participant when those self same chips might be cashed in for somebody much better down the road? With Reaves headed for unrestricted free company in 2026, he may even have probably been signed-and-traded out in a bundle for such a much bigger fish. It was incumbent upon him to show he was too good to be shopped in that matter.
And if 34 factors and 10 assists per recreation to date is not sufficient to try this? Properly, nothing shall be. The person stats do not fairly do him justice. Take a look at how nicely Dončić performed in his first two video games with simply Reaves and no James by his aspect: 46 factors, 11.5 rebounds and eight.5 assists per recreation on 62% capturing from the ground. Not solely is Reaves ascending, particularly, however he is doing so in methods which are inherently useful to Dončić. He is a adequate on-ball creator to take stress off of him. And he isn’t so ball-dominant that he’ll get in Dončić’s means. His foul-bating stops the clock, giving Dončić additional breathers. His capturing areas the ground for him. The partnership, to date, is every thing the Lakers may have hoped it could be.
And if that is the case, nicely, it modifications fairly a bit about how the Lakers can method constructing this staff in each the short- and long-term. If there’s much less of an crucial to hoard belongings for an additional famous person sooner or later, for example, these belongings might be spent within the current on badly-needed defensive function gamers. Doing so would permit the Lakers to capitalize on that different legend they have already got, James, who does not appear all that prone to be round for much longer. Buying and selling picks for win-now assist does not compromise the Dončić timeline as a lot if the Lakers imagine they have already got their second star in Reaves to maintain beside him for the lengthy haul.
The toughest factor to do for a potential champion is get the true famous person. The Lakers pulled that specific rabbit out of their hat in February. They’ve acted as if the following step is the logical, linear development: get him the sidekick. But when the early portion of this season is any indication, the sidekick is already right here. Discovering these two gamers is the toughest half, as a result of as Dončić confirmed in Dallas, simply give him one different All-Star-caliber offensive teammate and he can take you to the NBA Finals.
The Lakers have seemingly completed so. They might nonetheless attempt to get one other, in fact. These are the Lakers we’re speaking about, in spite of everything. In the event that they assume they’ve any prayer at a participant like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokić as 2027 free brokers, they are not going to punt that hope away. However there is not any longer that desperation, that fixation on probably losing a yr or extra ready for the possibility to commerce for one thing they thought they wanted. Austin Reaves is an All-Star now. He and Dončić may be the inspiration of a championship-level offense. And if that is the case, all that continues to be is constructing a protection worthy of their items. Dallas did so with far much less draft ammunition to spend in a far much less fascinating market. Whereas the Lakers nonetheless have a methods to go, the trail to constructing their eventual winner has by no means regarded cleaner.
