Austin Reaves has gone from strength to strength since he joined the Los Angeles Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2021 and GM Rob Pelinka reckons he can still get a lot better. During an appearance on ESPN LA Radio, Pelinka said Reaves could take a leap like Jalen Brunson did when he joined the New York Knicks.
“On the other side of the ball, just again seeing Austin in some of these scrimmages, like his confidence with the ball, is something that has really stood out,” Pelinka said. “And I’m excited for our fans to see that.”
“You look at evolutions of players, and I don’t compare players around the league, but you look at… a great player like a Jalen Brunson and the jump he had from his Dallas days to New York,” Pelinka continued. “Is there that delta? I’m not trying to put expectations like that on Austin Reaves, but you can see players develop in big ways throughout their career, and I’m gonna put my tokens down on Austin Reaves to do that just because of the work he puts in and just his fabric and nature. He’s an incredibly tough person and an incredible competitor and those things tend to elevate guys throughout their career.”
Pelinka went on to praise Reaves for his toughness and added that he is an incredible competitor. He believes those characteristics tend to elevate a player’s game and hence, is confident that the Lakers guard can take that big leap.
Reaves still has room to grow as he is 26 years old, but I don’t see him ever becoming an All-Star, let alone a superstar like Brunson. For starters, as long as he plays with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, he is not going to be able to bump up those numbers a lot.
Brunson was able to take a leap and become a star after joining the Knicks because he no longer had to play second fiddle to a ball-dominant Luka Doncic. He finally had his own team and exploded. Even if Reaves does get that opportunity in a few years, I don’t think he’d be able to put up huge numbers.
Reaves averaged 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2023-24 while shooting 48.6% from the field and 36.7% from beyond the arc. I think a realistic best-case scenario for the future for him is that he puts up close to 20 odd points and 7 odd assists on a nightly basis and that’d be pretty good, but just not All-Star good.
Rob Pelinka Shares What It Would Take For Him To Trade The Lakers’ First-Round Picks
Pelinka is not a very popular figure among Laker Nation at present, as the team has not made any significant move in the offseason. They have stood pat and have seen other teams make some big trades, which has frustrated the fanbase. Pelinka recently revealed what it would take for him to trade the Lakers’ first-round picks.
“I think the philosophy JJ (Redick) and I are aligned on is that we want to build sustainable Lakers’ excellence. When you talk about moves, you can always make on that backfires… But every lens we look through has to lead to sustainable Lakers excellence.”
“So to answer your question, yes, we would make a trade with both our picks if it leads to sustainable excellence. We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if it’s what we think is the best thing to do. We looked long and hard to see if there was a way to increase the roster talent this offseason. The right move didn’t present itself.”
“We will continue to study and scour the marketplace. If the right move presents itself which leads to long-term excellence and makes us better right now, we’ll pull the trigger.”
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many moves that lead to long-term excellence and short-term success. Players like that aren’t easily acquirable and think Pelinka might be forced to pull the trigger on a move he doesn’t necessarily like if the Lakers don’t get off to a good start.
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