Austin Reaves has easily been the best story thus far this season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Reaves is the biggest positive that has come from the Lakers’ injury-reddened 3-3 start to the season and he is making an impact that not many expected he would.
Reaves had all the makings of being yet another gem find by the Lakers when they signed him just weeks before the 2021-22 season kicked off. However, this seemed to be a long-term play and with the Lakers’ rotation being loaded with veterans, it did not seem like Reaves would get much of a chance.
That has not been the case. The Lakers have dealt with injuries to four rotation players, opening the door for Reaves to average just under 20 minutes per game thus far. Reaves has been playing well and has been getting minutes alongside the Lakers’ best unit, which is a welcome sight to see for Laker fans.
Frank Vogel called Reaves’ play thus far outstanding and it is safe to say that he has etched his place in the Los Angeles Lakers rotation.
By doing so, Austin Reaves will kick two players out of the Los Angeles Lakers rotation
There are three guards who are currently hurt on the Los Angeles Lakers — Talen Horton-Tucker, Wayne Ellington and Kendrick Nunn. When the season started it was safe to assume that Reaves’ minutes would be the first to get cut when the team gets healthy.
That is not the case. The Lakers are going to have to cut into other minutes to make room for these injured players. The most likely outcome is that two players get axed from the rotation altogether while Kent Bazemore sees a reduction in his 28 minutes per game.
These two Lakers will be out of the team’s rotation when the Lakers get healthy and they have Austin Reaves to blame.
1. Rajon Rondo
It is hard to see Rajon Rondo keeping his place in the rotation once Kendrick Nunn comes back. Nunn is the backup point guard of this team and quite frankly, fits on this team much better than Rondo does in 2021.
In previous years a player like Rondo had a lot of value as the Lakers needed a second ball-handler who could take some of the workload off of LeBron James. With Russell Westbrook now in town, the Lakers do not really need that and Westbrook can’t really play next to someone like Rondo effectively.
Nunn can as he is an off-ball scorer that can provide a catch-and-shoot outlet for both LeBron and Westbrook as well as having the ability to create his own shot when needed. Rondo is currently averaging 17.5 minutes per game and Nunn should probably be playing around 20.
Reaves is not a point guard but there are lineup possibilities with both Westbrook and LeBron on the bench. In that case, the Lakers could have played Rondo next to Nunn and while it would not have happened often, it would have kept Rondo in the rotation.
With Reaves playing well, the team can simply run Nunn and Reaves together at times with Reaves also getting minutes with the closing lineup as well.
But hey, maybe it will keep Rondo fresh so playoff Rondo can return.
2. Avery Bradley
Avery Bradley has played pretty well for the Los Angeles Lakers thus far this season. While he has not been fantastic or anything, he has had a much bigger impact on the team thus far than was projected when the Lakers signed him right before the season started.
Bradley’s tenure with the Lakers was bound to be short when he signed. He signed a non-guaranteed deal and if there was any sort of in-season buyout target Bradley would have been the first to go.
With Bradley playing well you can talk yourself into the Lakers keeping him all season. That will become harder once the Lakers get healthy and Bradley stops playing as much in favor of the developmental player in Reaves.
Wayne Ellington’s return will cut into some of the minutes that Bradley is playing. However, Bradley could still have a small role as Ellington will cut into some of Bazemore’s minutes, leaving some minutes for Bradley to play.
When Talen Horton-Tucker returns it is hard to see Bradley playing at all. There are only 240 minutes to allocate in any given game and there are only going to be 10-12 minutes available for the final guard spot. Those minutes should go to Reaves before they go to Bradley or Rondo.
So while we will likely see Reaves’ playing time decrease, the fact that he is playing well and is getting chances with the best lineup the Lakers have shows us that he is going to stay in the rotations amid the flurry of returns.