Getty Austin Reaves #15 and D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Next season is a key one for the Los Angeles Lakers with LeBron James heading into the final year of his contract and the team certainly looking to avenge their second-round sweep in the playoffs at the hands of the eventual champion Denver Nuggets. To do so, they need guard Austin Reaves to prove his 2022-23 campaign was not a fluke.
If teammate D’Angelo Russell’s opinion is any indication, it could have been just the beginning.
“Oh my God, he’s a killer,” Russell told former teammate Patrick Beverley on “The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone” on August 2. “He got that shhh.”
Russell told the story of matching up against Reaves while still with the Minnesota Timberwolves and being caught off guard when the latter broke out some fancy footwork to get his shot off.
“Then when I got around to him, and I have a good game, he’d have a good game, I’d have a good game…I was just seeing his demeanor,” Russell said. “And it was just like he was never excited about it. He just kind of always felt like, ‘Yeah, I can do that. I’m built like that. I’m supposed to do that.’”
Reaves, 25, averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds last season which may seem modest given his four-year, $53.8 million contract signed this offseason. Those numbers only tell part of the story, though.
Austin Reaves Got Better as Season Progressed
After averaging 10.5 points over his first 41 games of the season, the former undrafted free agent, Reaves, averaged 17.6 points while shooting 44.3% from beyond the arc with 5.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds over the Lakers’ final 23 regular season contests.
He averaged 18.3 points and shot 48.6% from deep, starting the final 10 regular season games.
L.A. went 8-2 in those games and Reaves was able to parlay that into a sizeable payday, a spot on Team USA for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and his own signature shoe set for release on August 11.
Austin Reaves 1st signature shoe — the Rigorer AR-1 — will be releasing this August in Lakers colors 👀👀
There are signs that even bigger things are in store for Reaves next season after he averaged 21.3 points while shooting 54.6% from three in the Western Conference Finals.
He certainly has the confidence of teammates, both current and former.
“It’s more of his mind,” Beverley said. “He’s underrated – like, he’s top 11, top 12 in the league when it comes to IQ. From my small time around him, he knows the game of basketball. It’s why he’s able to get to the free throw line the way he [does].”
D’Angelo Russell in Potential Position Battle
Russell, 27, re-signed this offseason on a two-year, $36 million contract but will have some additional competition for minutes with the Lakers adding Gabe Vincent on a three-year, $33 million pact in free agency this summer. Russell has the advantage in terms of starting experience.
Vincent proved himself as Russell struggled throughout the postseason, though both players faded over their final three-to-four contests.
Russell is also the bigger of the two and a better shooter which is key next to James and the newly-minted Anthony Davis.
Familiarity could also be in Russell’s favor, and the Lakers were 12-5 with him last season. But there will be competition which should only serve to benefit the Lakers as they look to shake off the stink of getting swept out of the playoffs.