Austin Reaves’ game has grown leaps and bounds in his second season in the NBA, and he has established himself as a key piece for the Los Angeles Lakers.
After Reaves and the Lakers eliminated the Golden State Warriors in six games in the Conference Semifinals, Draymond Green spoke glowingly about the guard.
“Austin Reaves, man, a guy who got off to a slow start in this series, finished with 23 and I think for the last three-four games maybe he played well,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “He earned my respect. Definitely earned my respect. Competing at the level that he competed at throughout this series. These lights get bright, we’ve seen guys these playoffs say these lights get too bright, and they get too bright for a lot of people. It didn’t start off great and that’s a guy who’s up for a contract… For the series to not start off great for him and for him to stick with it and have the impact that he had on the series said a lot to me. You see so many guys that just shrink in these moments and don’t live up to the moment. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time playing at this level as far as the playoffs and making runs, looked like he fit right in, so I take my hat off to him.”
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The first three games of the series saw Reaves average just 9.0 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.3 APG on 31.2% shooting from the field. He stuck with it though, as Green pointed out and over the last three games, put up 19.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 5.0 APG and shot 48.7% from the field. He had 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in Game 6 and hit an insane half-court buzzer-beater at the end of the first half, which seemed to deflate the Warriors.
Austin Reaves Looks Set For A Pretty Good Payday
Reaves has shown by now that he is not a flash in the pan. Sure, he is not an All-Star level player by any means, but he is pretty good nonetheless and has also shown he can play well in the postseason. The guard will be a restricted free agent this summer and an insider believes he deserves a four-year deal worth $99 million.
The Lakers wouldn’t be able to match a deal like that, as Shams Charania reported they can only offer him around $50-60 million over four years due to their cap situation. GM Rob Pelinka stated there is a mutual desire to get a deal done between both parties, but if he does end up getting a crazy offer from some team, it is hard to see Reaves taking a huge discount to stay with the Lakers.
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