Anyone who does not believe that Austin Reaves is a rising star in the NBA is either not paying attention, or has some clear bias against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Reaves is becoming so great that even LeBron James and Luka Doncic cannot ignore him.
The Lakers guard has averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from beyond the arc.
To truly understand just how special Reaves is becoming, one has to look beyond the numbers, though.
The statistics grab some natural attention when the fourth-year pro is setting Lakers’ records like the most 3-pointers (15) in a two-game span. That certainly deserves to be discussed and highlighted. The point here is this whole thing goes beyond all of it.
Reaves has inspired some serious trust from his elite teammates
Imagine having two of the best offensive engines that the game of basketball has ever seen on your team.
Now imagine both of those guys comfortably looking at you and happily deferring the basketball your way. That is the situation in which Reaves finds himself with Doncic and James.
it was also the topic of discussion for Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo when the two conducted their annual ‘Made-Up NBA Awards’ episode on The Bill Simmons Podcast. Reaves was the winner of the ‘most unexpected delight’ category for Simmons.
Los Angeles fans will tell you that they had known about the potential of the Lakers guard for years. However, for many in the NBA community who do not follow the team as closely, Reaves fits the bill of a deserving candidate to take home this fake award.
“I can’t believe how good he is offensively,” Simmons said.” [It’s] to the point where he’s on a team with LeBron and Luka and not only does his coach think it’s a good idea to run stuff through Austin Reaves, but LeBron and Luka are like, ‘We should run stuff through Austin Reaves.’ That’s the level he’s at.”
The podcaster estimated that Reaves would eventually growing into a 25-point per game scorer. Should the fourth-year pro step into a secondary role behind Doncic at some point, it is certainly possible.
Having Reaves become such a big part of the offense has undoubtedly also had the bonus effect of allowing a 40-year-old James more opportunity to not only pick his spots, and conserve energy, but reallocate that effort to the defensive end.
Over their last nine games together, Reaves is averaging 24.6 points per game on 15.2 shots a night, while James is scoring 21.2 points on 16.3 field goals attempts per contest.
For LeBron, that’s almost two less shots a night by comparison to his season average of 18.2. This is what ethical load management looks like.
The continued rise of Reaves as a pivotal fixture in the Lakers offense has certainly benefitted everyone involved. Well, perhaps that is not the case for opposing defenses.
