Like most teams in the NBA this year, the Los Angeles Lakers are in store for a busy summer. As the Finals wrap to a close and full offseason activities begin, the newly revamped front office will be evaluating everything to determine the best course of action.
One of the most pressing matters is deciding what to do with Austin Reaves, who will be an unrestricted free agent in July. While some fans are warning the Lakers not to overpay for Reaves, the team is convinced that the Reaves-Doncic pairing can bring long-term success. Specifically, they dismiss the notion that the duo is too much of a defensive liability to be effective. They trust in the partnership and are ready to invest big money (potentially $240 million) to keep them together this summer.
“Internally, there’s a strong desire to give Doncic the best-fitting teammates,” reported Dan Woike this week. “And in addition to being a bit of a chameleon on the floor, Reaves fits a real roster need as a secondary playmaker who can create his own shot on the ball and be effective off of it. Provided the Lakers address other needs on the wing and at the rim, defensive concerns about a Doncic-and-Reaves pairing are overstated, one team source said. Reaves was also one of the most important voices inside the Lakers’ locker room a season ago, his leadership developing year over year.”
Defense has been a regular problem for the Lakers since the departure of Anthony Davis. Without that consistent, dominating presence under the rim, the team has struggled to contain opponents. It doesn’t help that both Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic are among the team’s weakest defenders. They lack the size to contain certain matchups and lack the instincts to stay in front of their assignments.
For Doncic, some say it was defensive mistakes that cost him the 2024 NBA Finals, which saw the Mavericks go down in just five games to a young Boston Celtics team. Ever since, Luka’s defensive habits have been subject to scrutiny, with fans and analysts demanding that he start playing both ends of the floor.
The Lakers, however, think the concerns are largely overblown. While Reaves and Doncic are often targeted by scorers, they routinely hold their own by either contesting the shot or forcing a turnover. Plus, even as the 19th-best defensive team this season (116.4 rating), the Lakers finished fourth in the Western Conference (53-29). In the playoffs, despite not having Luka Doncic, they made it to the Western Semifinals before being eliminated by the then-defending champions (Oklahoma City Thunder).
That’s why the Lakers are certain they can succeed with Doncic and Reaves for the foreseeable future. So long as they surround them with perimeter defenders and versatile two-way bigs, the duo is equipped to lead the Lakers to prosperity for a long time. But if they want to truly maximize their time together, they’ll have to make internal adjustments to become better defenders and anchors for their team.
Whether that leaves LeBron James is anyone’s guess, but this is not his team anymore. In this new era of Lakers basketball, it’s the Doncic and Reaves show, and they’ve seen enough to believe that this could be something special in the making.
