In July of 2023, the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a four-year, $56 million contract with sharpshooting guard Austin Reaves. And while the Lakers still feel good about that contract, one anonymous NBA scout says they will never win the title with Reaves playing such a prominent role.
“If he’s [Austin Reaves] your third-best player, you’re not a championship contender, you’re just not,” said the scout, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “If you put Austin Reaves on the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Boston Celtics, he’s probably the fifth, maybe even sixth-best player, on those rosters.”
Reaves played his way into prominence during the 2022-23 season, when he averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game on 52.9% shooting. He finished 7th in Sixth Man of the Year voting as he helped the Lakers reach the Western Conference Finals.
Austin has since been tapped as the Lakers’ third option and his stats have slowly risen with each passing season. In this campaign, he’s sitting at a career-high 16.7 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds on 44.0% shooting.
But as Reaves has improved his play, and taken a bigger role within the team, the Lakers have fallen off progressively harder. This season, with Reaves at his best, the Lakers are still not good enough to challenge the NBA’s elite ball clubs, such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, and Dallas Mavericks. This season, the Lakers are 8th in the West at 13-11 and are just one game ahead of the 11th-place Spurs.
Simply put, the Lakers just don’t have enough firepower to contend with the best teams in the league. Besides an aging LeBron James and Antony Davis, the Lakers don’t have another player that they can rely on to get buckets and get stops when they need them.
The fact that Reaves, who is just 26 years old, is the Lakers’ third-best option right now says a lot about where they stand as a team. Compare Reaves to other teams’ third options (like Paul George for the 76ers, Kristaps Porzingis for the Celtics, or Mikal Bridge for the Knicks) and it’s clear that the Lakers are at least a tier behind some of the best contenders.
Of course, there’s still time for the Lakers to change this reality. With many weeks to go before the trade deadline, they could use Reaves and perhaps another rotation player, to try and make a deal for a proper third option.
Currently, we know that Rob Pelinka is on the hunt for guys such as Nikola Vucevic, Jonas Valanciunas, and Nic Claxton, who will be eligible for trade after December 15th. Any of them could be a viable third option for the Lake Show, but it remains to be seen if they have the assets to secure a deal.
As it stands now, the Lakers just don’t have enough depth or talent to keep up with the NBA’s elite squads and that’s a real shame given that LeBron James is trying to win one more title before retirement.
The Lakers’ next game is tonight, against the Sacramento Kings, at 10:00 PM EST at Golden 1 Center. It’s the first game of a back-to-back set in Sacramento, with the second game scheduled for December 21st at 6:00 PM EST.
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