Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves has put together a tremendous 2025-26 season. He's taken yet another significant step forward, producing star-caliber numbers and showing signs of being an ideal second option alongside Lakers franchise player Luka Doncic.
For as well as Reaves has played, there's one elephant in the room that can't be ignored: It's currently unclear if he's the type of player who's willing or able to assert himself on a regular basis.
Reaves finished the 2025-26 regular season with tremendous statistics. He averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 2.3 three-point field goals made per game on .490/.360/.871 shooting, with an eFG% of .567.
Reaves was one of just 10 players who averaged at least 20.0 points, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 three-point field goals made per game in 2025-26.
Unfortunately, the question facing Reaves is the same as it was in previous seasons. He's undeniably talented and productive, but his lack of assertiveness as a player makes it fair to question if he's a true No. 2 or more of a highly productive third option in a star-studded rotation.
Answering that question would've made the Lakers' ideal offseason far easier to project. Instead, Los Angeles are effectively being forced to enlist optimism as a team-building tactic.
Austin Reaves is dynamic, productive, and a bit too passive
Any player who averages 23.3 points and 5.5 assists per game is clearly willing to assert themselves to some degree. One simply can't reach those statistics without displaying a willingness to be aggressive on the offensive end of the floor.
The difference between where Reaves is and the stardom that he's on the cusp of achieving, however, is a willingness to turn good into great, even if it means risking committing mistakes.
Reaves was tremendous this season, but his 14.9 field goal attempts per game were somewhat underwhelming and ranked third on his own team. He can clearly put up big numbers, as he recorded 12 30-point games in 2025-26. He did so more through efficiency than volume, however, which is both a testament to his ability and a sign of the area in which he must improve.
That was illustrated when Reaves had 31 points on 16 field goal attempts in a Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and again when he tallied 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting in Game 3.
In both games, the Lakers desperately needed someone to take over and guide their fledgling offense to success. Though the numbers aren't bad on Reaves' behalf, the line between star and otherwise is thin. Crossing it means being willing to make mistakes and take over when the supporting cast is struggling to bury consistent shots.
Abstract as that idea and concept may be, for Reaves to make the leap to true stardom, he'll need to prove willing and able to play beyond the scope of responsible and efficient shot creation.
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