- Austin Reaves joined the Lakers as an undrafted free agent in 2021
- Reaves was initially on a two-way deal but got a standard NBA contract in just under two months
- Jovan Buha revealed how Reaves got both LeBron James and Anthony Davis to convince the Lakers they had to have him
It is not often that undrafted free agents on two-way deals get a standard NBA contract before they ever play a regular season game, but that’s exactly what happened with Austin Reaves in 2021. The reason for that? Well, he made a very strong impression on LeBron James and Anthony Davis in a players-only minicamp.
“He was a two-way guy, goes to Las Vegas for a players-only minicamp that LeBron James is leading,” Jovan Buha shared on the Athletic NBA Show. “And he played so well that LeBron and AD were just like this guy has to be on the team.”
LeBron and Davis thought Reaves was too good to just be on a two-way deal.
“The Lakers were planning on carrying 14 guys into the regular season,” Buha continued. “After LeBron and AD spoke with the management, it’s like this guy has to be like our 15th player, we cannot just have him on a two-way. So Austin made the team and from there, he has kinda taken off.”
(starts at 2:12 mark):
I mean, to get LeBron and Davis to change the strategy the Los Angeles Lakers had and go with 15 players, speaks to just how great he’d have been in that minicamp.
Reaves would go on to average 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in his rookie season. He started a bit slow as you might imagine, but by the second half of the 2021-22 season, you could see that he had the potential to be a very good player.
Then this past season, the 25-year-old established himself as a key piece for the Lakers and eventually earned the starting job. In the playoffs, he would end up averaging 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game.
He was handsomely rewarded for his excellent play too, with the Lakers re-signing Reaves on a four-year, $56 million deal.
LeBron James Spoke About His First Practice With Austin Reaves
It’s well known now, just how much of a fan LeBron is of Reaves.
James has always showered praise on him, and he knew right away that the youngster had something about him. LeBron stated that he knew from their first practice together that Reaves wouldn’t be a two-way player for long, and it does go in line really with what Buha said.
James had made those comments after Reaves’ excellent playoff debut against the Memphis Grizzlies, where he had 23 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and a block. It was a fine postseason run in general and proved Reaves wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
Austin Reaves Has Made Quite An Impression With Team USA Too
Reaves has carried on the momentum from that postseason run, into his stint with Team USA. There were some who questioned whether he deserved to be on the roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but he has silenced them.
He has been so impressive, in fact, that Reaves has shocked Team USA by being even better than they thought. He played pretty well in the warm-up series leading up to the World Cup and has been one of their better players in the tournament too.
Reaves has averaged 11.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, and has helped Team USA have a perfect 4-0 record.
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