The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to make any significant moves this summer, but it hasn’t convinced Austin Reaves that his team can’t compete for a title. During a recent public event, Reaves spoke about his expectations for the Lakers this season and how they can recover from their loss to the Denver Nuggets.
“I like where we’re at. I think we have what we need to go compete for a championship,” said Reaves during an event in the Philippines. “You look at the Denver series last year, I forgot the statistics, but I think we played like 104 minutes to 8 minutes and we get beat 4-1. You can’t wrap your mind around it. It was a couple of sequences down the stretch where we didn’t execute and they did. I like where we’re at. Obviously getting JJ someone who’s a fierce competitor. We seen in Vegas for summer league and said, ‘I’ve been staring at the whiteboard for three hours trying to figure out how we can do this stuff.’ So you can tell the intensity he has and the time he will put in.”
After making the Conference Finals in 2023, the Lakers were feeling confident about their new core with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell. But when things finally slowed down this past season, it became clear that the Lakers weren’t contenders and they proved it in the playoffs by getting nearly getting swept by the Nuggets.
Interestingly, they had a lead in nearly every game and had a chance to win multiple matchups but they couldn’t executive down the stretch when it ultimately mattered the most
Lakers fans everywhere entered this offseason desperate for change and the first domino to fall was Darvin Ham. After a lengthy process, the Lakers eventually settled on JJ Redick as the replacement.
Since hiring Redick and drafting a pair of rookies, the Lakers haven’t made any notable changes to the roster and there’s no reason to believe they will fare any better next season than they did in the last one.
For Reaves, however, there is still hope that they can make a run. Even at 39 years old, LeBron James remains one of the best players in the world and he’s coming off a season where he averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game on 48.6% shooting.
If he and his co-star Anthony Davis stay healthy this season, it could be enough to at least get the Lakers into the playoffs. The key to going beyond that is strong play from the role-players, including Reaves.
The 26-year-old guard averaged 15.9 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game on 48.6% shooting last season and after a summer of hard work and meticulous study, he’s ready to put on his best season yet. As an aging team that’s fighting to stay relevant, the Lakers will need everything Reaves can give if they want to stand any chance in the West next season.
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