Austin Reaves's future with the Los Angeles Lakers has been shrouded in doubt by some analysts, but don't count NBA insider Jake Fischer among them.
Over the weekend, Fischer reiterated his stance that Reaves is absolutely a part of LA's long-term plans alongside Luka Doncic.
Jake Fischer says the Lakers are all-in on Austin Reaves
"They definitely want to bring back Austin Reaves, that's no secret," Fischer said, before asserting once again that the Lakers will have to consider a future with or without LeBron James.
Reaves hasn't looked rusty at all since his return from injury, posting 15 points, 35 points, and 16 points for the Lakers in three games (all wins), despite being on a sub-25 minutes restriction.
If you're looking to envision a Luka-Reaves future that doesn't include LeBron, you can go back and watch the 14 games this season in which Doncic and Reaves played together while James sat with a sciatica injury.
Notably, LA went 10-4 in those contests.
With Reaves looking forward to a huge payday this summer in the form of a max deal, everything Fischer said indicated that Reaves' contract will indeed be written on Lakers stationery.
Fischer sheepishly described the chances of LeBron returning to LA as an "open door" while even more hesitantly bringing up barely audible buzz about a potential Reaves sign-and-trade to the Milwaukee Bucks.
By all indications, Fischer felt obligated to mention these storylines that he is nearly certain won't ever re-emerge with any semblance of realism.
The Lakers have, by all accounts, chosen a star duo of Doncic and Reaves to build around moving forward, and with LeBron's salary coming off the books in June, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka will have plenty of spending power (and responsibility) on his desk as he looks to re-tool the Lake Show.
Given the defensive shortcomings of Doncic and Reaves, it's obvious that Pelinka will look to prioritize lengthy, athletic, defensive wings who can hide those shortcomings and ideally provide shooting around LA's pair of gifted playmakers.
The convenient thing about Reaves is that he can play point guard and shooting guard with equal aplomb, making him an ideal running mate with Doncic, who dominates the ball as the league's best creator but is also prone to missing time here and there.
Just as Kyrie Irving was a perfect combo-guard fit alongside Luka in Dallas, Reaves promises to pair up with Doncic for a winning recipe.