Austin Reaves has gone from undrafted rookie on a two-way deal to being one of the best players on Team USA and arguably being the biggest fan favorite on the Los Angeles Lakers.
It has only taken two years for Reaves to make this ascension and there is no predicting how far he may continue to ascend. Reaves is widely viewed as the third-best player on a legitimate title-contending team and it might just be a matter of time until he is an all-star.
Finding a diamond in the rough like Reaves is very hard to do but the Lakers have been great at making the most out of hidden gems. Reaves is the biggest success story but he is not alone, with Alex Caruso being another prominent player who rose from undrafted to fan favorite.
Caruso and Reaves never played together, which is a real shame. Luckily, the Lakers learned their lesson from Caruso and actually re-signed Reaves that way he could play with the next potential undrafted hidden gem in LA — D’Moi Hodge.
D’Moi Hodge is the next Austin Reaves for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Undrafted two-way guard D'Moi Hodge making his presence felt in NBA Summer League with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s shown off his elite shooting stroke while bringing intensity on both ends of the floor with pesky on-ball pressure. pic.twitter.com/qCftrYM3Uq
— League Him (@League_Him) July 10, 2023
Hodge and Reaves are not similar in the types of players that they are but they could end up having a very similar story for the Lakers. Like Reaves, Hodges was expected to go in the second round of the NBA Draft but was instead undrafted and quickly signed by the Lakers.
Prior to going undrafted, both guys started playing college basketball at a smaller school before moving to a more prolific program (Wichita State to Oklahoma for Reaves, State College of Florida to Cleveland State to Missouri for Hodge). Reaves had five years of college experience and was 23 when he came into the league. Hodge has five years of college experience and actually turns 25 this December.
It did not take long for the Lakers to sign Hodge to a two-way deal (just like Reaves did) and it took even less time to justify that decision. Hodge balled out in the NBA Summer League, drawing many comparisons to former Lakers role player Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Reaves impressed the Lakers enough that the team used one of its open roster spots to sign him to a standard NBA contract in late September. As it stands right now, the Lakers have two open roster spots to utilize and have not been in a rush to fill them.
One of the open roster spots will certainly be used for a center. There is a very good case to use the other roster spot for a shooting guard. The only two guards on the roster are Austin Reaves and an unproven Max Christie. It would certainly behoove the team to add another two guard to the mix in some capacity.
That opens the door for Hodge to get his two-way contract converted into a standard contract, just like Reaves did. He might be a rookie, but the fact that he is already 24 gives him a chance to have more of an instant impact in the league. His overall ceiling might be lower than Christie but being almost five years older than him makes Hodge more developed athletically.
The stars are aligning for Hodge to be yet another great success story for Los Angeles. He may never be as good as Reaves, but it won’t be surprising if he becomes just as big of a fan favorite.