There's a foul narrative going around that Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves severely harmed his market value during the second round against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's a narrative that doesn't make much sense at all, and The Athletic's Sam Vecenie doesn't understand why people are attaching themselves to it.
During his Game Theory Podcast, Vecenie reminded fans that Reaves -- though clearly not operating at 100% due to his oblique injury -- "wasn't a catastrophe" against the Thunder, averaging 21/4/7 for the series on 43/30/83 shooting splits.
Reaves' playoff performance "wasn't amazing, but it wasn't terrible," Vecenie added, shooting down the notion that AR damaged his value and lost himself money.
Austin Reaves didn't harm his chances for a max deal with play against Thunder
Reaves is very much still in line to receive a max deal from the Lakers this summer. And if LA's general manager Rob Pelinka gets a little too cute with his dollar figure, you can rest assured that Reaves' reps will be calling up the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets to act as leverage. Both of those squads have eons of cap space and might be interested in throwing a bigger number at Reaves than whatever Pelinka plops down on the table in front of AR, which most people estimate will be something like a $40 million per year deal.
Vecenie also reminded fans during his podcast that Reaves wasn't the Lakers' main issue against the Thunder, and that LA's main problem was that it lacked sufficient shot-creation whenever Reaves or LeBron weren't on the floor (given Luka Doncic's absence).
Should Austin Reaves have sat out the entire playoffs?
The idea that Reaves should've sat out entirely from the playoffs -- so as not to risk hurting his value -- was one that plenty of people floated in the days leading up to AR's return.
But that's not how Reaves operates. He loves to compete, and as long as he was physically able to get out there and contribute even 70% of his normal capabilities to the Lakers, nothing was going to stop him. Ironically, this may have convinced a guy like Pelinka that Reaves is even more deserving of a big payday, as AR is willing to put his body and reputation on the line for the greater good of the team. That's a guy you want to reward.
Anyway, Vecenie is right -- Reaves didn't do anything during the Thunder series to hurt his value or lose himself dough. If anything, the "evidence" that Reaves isn't deserving of a max from the Lakers existed in his prior meetings against OKC, when he struggled despite being healthier. But we won't delve into that at the moment. Pelinka's mind on Reaves seems made up, especially because Doncic likes playing with AR.
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