3 Lakers who should be outraged if Russell Westbrook isn’t traded

2. Austin Reaves

The one thing that the Los Angeles Lakers have consistently been good at over the last several years is finding hidden gems and turning them into legitimate rotation players. Whether it be late draft picks or undrafted rookies, Los Angeles has a track record in this regard.

Adding to that track record last season was rookie point guard Austin Reaves. Reaves went undrafted out of the University of Oklahoma and the Lakers quickly signed him to a deal and converted his two-way contract to a standard contract right before the season began.

Hopefully, the team does the same thing with Summer League standout Cole Swider this season, but we will have to wait and see.

Reaves was not among the best rookies in the sport or anything but he showed true value as a rotational player that was learning from the veterans on the roster. There definitely is some juice there, especially if he continues to show high effort on the defensive side and refines his three-point shot a bit.

The problem is that if Westbrook is in town he is not going to get as much playing time as he would otherwise. With the return of Kendrick Nunn, there are not many minutes to go around in the backcourt.

It is not like Reaves needs to play 30 minutes a game, but having Westbrook restricts the development of players, which hurts more when Westbrook himself isn’t even playing great.