Austin Reaves‘ great form has been a real surprise to many fans. But one person who isn’t surprised by this is Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka. In September of 2024, Pelinka spoke about his expectations for Reaves this season. He claimed that he expected Reaves to take a massive leap this season, much like Jalen Brunson did after leaving the Mavericks and joining the 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. And I’m excited for our fans to see that.”
“You look at the 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. 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.”
While people may have been skeptical about Pelinka’s words at the time, he has been proven right. Reaves has been phenomenal this season, firmly establishing himself as the third-best player on the Lakers behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Currently, he has been putting up All-Star numbers.
Pelinka may have been right about Austin Reaves, but before this weekend, he was being heavily criticized for his inactivity. Legendary rapper and famous Lakers fan Snoop Dogg urged Pelinka to make some moves to help the roster. But after making a big trade for Dorian Finney-Smith, fans of the Lakers are happy. Magic Johnson praised Pelinka for the trade.
Reaves Becomes Lakers’ Third Star
Over the last 10 games, Reaves has been lights out, averaging 20.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 0.8 steals while shooting 45.2% from the field, 35.3% from beyond the arc, and 84.9% from the free-throw line. But his numbers this season have been just as strong.
This season, Reaves is averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game, while shooting 44.9% from the field, 36.1% from deep, and 80.9% from the charity stripe. The Lakers are lucky that Reaves has stepped up to become one of their best and most consistent performers this season.
It was reported that the Los Angeles Lakers were refusing to attach Austin Reaves as part of any potential trade package for Zach LaVine. And given how Reaves has been playing this season, that seems to be a very reasonable decision. In fact, one can argue that he is a more valuable asset for the Lakers than Zach LaVine could be.
Austin Reaves has spoken about this new, more emphasized role with the Lakers, noting that he is still going to make some mistakes from time to time. Lakers fans will live with the mistakes if he continues to perform at this new, high level that he has found.
Reaves must now be untouchable when it comes to the Lakers’ future. Any roster changes and trades they make going forward cannot and should not have Reaves in any packages as he is one of the core players on the Lakers.
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