The Los Angeles Lakers made big news earlier in the offseason by signing Austin Reaves to an expensive long-term contract. However, not everyone believes that Reaves is worth the money nor will be able to help the team win. Reaves is coming off a breakout season that saw him taking his name to another level, but he’s still never been an All-Star or an All-NBA player.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley ranked Reaves 10th overall when ranking the most overrated NBA players today:
“Reaves is regarded (and now compensated) as a full-fledged star, but his production just doesn’t paint him with that kind of brightness. He reads more like a good-to-very-good offensive player, and once that gets coupled with his disastrous defense.
It adds more to a strong support piece than an actual building block. If you’re looking for transcendent talent, his stat sheet just doesn’t show it. Good numbers, not overwhelmingly great ones. And not necessarily this-guy’s-a-max-contract-player-for-sure production for a one-way contributor.”
Both the contract that the Lakers paid Reaves and his overall stats were used to define him as overrated. The Lakers also more or less picked Reaves over LeBron James by prioritizing his contract in the offseason. Bleacher Report thinks that Reaves is a good player that the Lakers and NBA fans project to be great moving forward to deem him overrated.
Which Names Were Ranked Over Austin Reaves?
Despite it being a negative to be on this list, Reaves is ranked last and all other nine names were considered more overrated than him. Washington Wizards star Anthony Davis was named the most overrated for injuries and lackluster results in recent seasons harming his reputation.
Buckley’s full list of most overrated players from most to least overrated:
Anthony Davis (Wizards)
Jaren Jackson Jr. (Jazz)
Zion Williamson (Pelicans)
Trae Young (Wizards)
Austin Reaves (Lakers)
Each player was listed with an explanation, but most names make sense for one or two reasons. One bad sign for Reaves is that he’s one or just two players on this list to never make the NBA All-Star Game.
How Austin Reaves Can Prove Critics Wrong
The Lakers believe in Reaves due to how well he produced when called upon this past season. Reaves averaged 27.6 points, 6.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds through the first 21 games of season, including time when Luka Doncic and LeBron missed games due to injuries.
The 21-game mark saw Reaves also suffering an injury and missing a lot of time to dampen his hot start. Reaves showed that he could dominate offensively when better players got injured and he’s improved season to season throughout his career.
Despite the contract looking large, Reaves is worth keeping as a beloved fan favorite who has stepped up. The Lakers will badly need more offense after losing a handful of talents and adding defensive center Walker Kessler as the big new addition. Reaves can prove all his doubters wrong by being the second best player on a playoff team next season.
Austin Reaves Named To Controversial Overrated NBA Stars List