LeBron James has reportedly informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he will not be returning to the team in 2026-27. Though it's a bittersweet development, there's one player who should be all but entirely positively impacted by James' departure: Austin Reaves.
James deserves credit for helping Reaves as a teammate and possibly even as a mentor, but the time had come for the student to venture out on their own.
Reaves rarely seemed comfortable with imposing his will on a game while playing alongside James. This is merely an observation and not an accusation or statement of fact. With numbers to support the claim, however, it's difficult to ignore the implications of this decision.
With James playing elsewhere, Reaves can unequivocally confirm whether or not he's capable of thriving in the No. 2 role on a contender.
Austin Reaves rarely imposed himself on the game next to LeBron James
In 2025-26, Reaves averaged 22.6 points, 4.1 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 turnovers, and 6.2 free throw attempts per 75 possessions with James on the court. He also posted a true shooting percentage of .628 across those 891 minutes.
Those are by no means bad numbers, but Reaves was simply a more productive and efficient player when James wasn't on the court—in an almost identical sample size of 871 minutes.
Without James, Reaves averaged 26.7 points (+4.1), 7.5 assists (+3.4), 5.1 rebounds (+0.2), and 9.2 free throw attempts (+3.0) per 75 possessions. Despite that massive surge in scoring and playmaking production, he averaged just 0.1 more turnovers per 75 possessions.
Furthermore, Reaves' true shooting percentage increased from .628 to .653. All in all, he played better basketball without James.
Austin Reaves is the clear-cut No. 2 after LeBrons' departure
Perhaps this will all prove to be a fluke when Reaves takes the court without James in 2026-27. The harsh reality, however, is that the Lakers were determined to keep Reaves at any cost, and at $44.5 million per season, they need the best version of him—and to put him in the best role for him.
They were certainly given reason to believe in him in 2025-26, as the Lakers ranked in the 77th percentile in net rating with Reaves on the court and James on the sidelines.
Thankfully, with James leaving, the Lakers can fully explore the type of player Reaves can become. He's developed captivating chemistry alongside Luka Doncic and is now ideally positioned to prove he can live up to the lofty standards of the No. 2 role alongside him.
Losing James stings and his impact remains decidedly positive, but for Reaves, the time had finally come for him to escape the former franchise player's shadow.
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