The Los Angeles Lakers were swept in the Western Conference Finals, but there’s a multitude of reasons for fans to be excited about the future. While the excitement hangs in the balance as LeBron James mulls his basketball future — or establishes even more leverage on the front office — the Lakers have found legitimate building blocks that might persuade James to run it back with the purple and gold.
Look no further than Austin Reaves, who logged the third most minutes of any player in the Association from March 20 onward.
Reaves is a restricted free agent this summer, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski understands the Lakers will do whatever it takes to keep him. The expectation, however, is that Reaves will receive a massive offer sheet from another team.
How could he not? He made a huge jump as a sophomore, embraced the playoff stage and was oftentimes the best player on a team headlined by LeBron and Anthony Davis.
Suffice it to say Reaves’ stock around the league has skyrocketed. In the eyes of Austin Rivers (!), though, Reaves’ skillset doesn’t even compare to that of Warriors guard Jordan Poole.
Get a load of this.
Austin Rivers says Austin Reaves skill level is not even in the ‘same realm’ as Jordan Poole’s
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 22, 2023
“He’s nowhere near Jordan Poole.”
(Via @ringernba )
pic.twitter.com/5NEGGQG0is
Austin Rivers laughably says Jordan Poole is better than Lakers’ Austin Reaves
Nobody’s saying Reaves is the second coming of Magic Johnson, but what is Rivers even saying here? Who cares if Poole has more tricks in his bag than Reaves? One was a catalyst in his team advancing to the Western Conference Finals, while the other was unplayable for large stretches of the postseason.
Is there a single worst contract in the NBA right now than Poole’s four-year, $128 million extension he signed last summer? That includes $123 million guaranteed, by the way, and he played just 20.8 minutes per game these playoffs while averaging 10.3 points and shooting a ghastly 34.1% from the floor … all the while personifying a traffic cone on the defensive end.
Reaves, on the other hand, is on a two-year $2.488 million contract as a former undrafted free agent. He averaged 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 46.4% from the floor, 44.3% on threes at over 36 minutes per game.
Those numbers don’t account for the handful of winning plays Reaves made every game, whether it be taking a charge or keeping a possession alive by getting his hand on an offensive rebound and out-hustling everyone on the floor to snag a loose ball.
"Austin Reaves told me he wanted to be a Laker for life..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 25, 2023
There's a scenario out there where he gets a pretty massive offer sheet from another team tho" ~ @ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/1b5BHzjyE9
Shouldn’t production trump skillset when the more skilled player doesn’t produce? Or is flare and glitz all that matters to determine the superior player? That’s like saying Monta Ellis was better than Rajon Rondo.
Lakers fans didn’t have a reason to dislike Austin Rivers before this, but rest assured the veteran guard is now public enemy No. 1 in Los Angeles.
4 Former Lakers the team could sign in free agency
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