Goal 3: Earn more than just ‘garbage time’ minutes.
Obviously, Reaves is playing for one of the top teams in the league. He’s one of many on a stacked roster, although injuries have played a part in his current role with the Lakers. Let’s look back at Alex Caruso’s rookie year in Los Angeles. After all, isn’t Austin just like Alex, but with hair?
During his first season in 2017-18, Caruso averaged 15.2 minutes per game. He was in a similar situation to Reaves coming out of college, but he recently signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Bulls during the offseason. And he won an NBA Championship. Austin’s story could very well be more similar to Alex’s than most people already think.
It’s not right to say that injuries have played in Reaves’ favor because they’re one of the worst parts of the game. However, it’s a long season and injuries are inevitable, as they unfortunately already have been for the Lakers. Austin’s high basketball IQ and production are what’s going to be the main factor into the amount of playing time that he receives.
Frank Vogel will have the final say on the number of minutes that Reaves will spend on the court, but he’s already praised Austin’s output during the preseason. I can’t stress enough how I believe that Reaves truly couldn’t be in a better situation. The beginning of his career is going to be a test of if he can sink or swim and he’s with an organization that’s going to do everything that they can to make sure that he doesn’t fail.
If Los Angeles makes it to the NBA Finals, that’ll make Austin’s presence that much more crucial. Truthfully, I see Reaves making more of an overall impact during his time in purple and gold than Caruso did during his four years with the Lakers, and that’s saying something. The talk surrounding Austin’s preseason performance isn’t an overreaction, but the minutes that he appears in during the beginning of the regular season will give a better insight into how his rookie season will go.