The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets in a series nobody was picking them to win, and it took Austin Reaves rushing back from injury to help them get it done. Reaves suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain in the April 2 game against the Thunder. He returned in Game 5 of the first round series, which beat the low end of his four-to-six week timetable by a day. Reaves will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He risked entering the offseason injured or coming off poor play, and the Lakers should reward him handsomely this summer.
Reaves clearly wasn’t 100 percent in Game 5. He made just four of his 16 field goal attempts and had three turnovers. The Lakers needed his playmaking and shot creation with Luka Doncic out. AR netted 22 points and had six dimes, but it was enough. It put even more pressure on Game 6, where Reaves found his legs.
Reaves is in line for a massive payday this summer. He made just under $14 million this season and has earned $41.9 million for his career. His next contract likely gets him $40 million per year. The 27-year-old risked all that to help the Lakers, and the franchise can’t forget that.
Austin Reaves rushing back from injury should make him a Laker for life
Reaves is an unbelievable development story for the Lakers. He has gone from an undrafted free agent to a star. He averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 34.5 minutes per game this season. AR shot 49.0 percent from the field, 36.0 percent on his threes, and 87.1 percent from the foul line. Those are All-Star numbers, and he’s formed a close relationship with Luka.
That should be the Lakers' star duo for the next decade. Reaves will decline his player option and enter free agency, but he doesn’t want to leave. The 27-year-old is trying to get paid what he deserves. The Lakers want to keep him in Los Angeles, and that desire should have grown after Reaves rushed back to help his team finish off the Rockets in the opening round of the playoffs.
Other players wouldn’t have done this. Reaves could earn $241 million if he lands a max contract this summer. That could have gone out the window if he suffered an injury that kept him out months, but AR didn’t care. He saw an opportunity to help his team make a playoff run, and he did everything possible to take it.
Reaves had this to say about what it took to get back ahead of his timetable after the Game 6 win in Houston.
“Obviously, it would have been much easier if I were able to play a couple of real games before, but the nature of what happened, you got to play the cards you are dealt. Literally, we did everything we could possibly do to get myself back in this opportunity. There were days I left my house at 7:30 in the morning and didn’t get back until 7:30 or later at night. Going through every possible thing I could go through to help myself get better, and we did it as a collective. We huddled up when it first happened, and it was basically attack every day after that.”
That is what a superstar does. Reaves wants to play and chase a championship. He wasn’t looking at free agency or any of the outside things. AR wants to hoop at the highest level, so he did everything in his power to make that happen.
Reaves wasn’t fully ready for Game 5, but he went out to help his team. He looked considerably better in Game 6 and should be near 100 percent to start the series against Oklahoma City. The Lakers get three days off before Game 1 versus the defending champions. Expect Reaves to use it to keep building up his conditioning after nearly a month-long layoff.
The Los Angeles Lakers should re-sign Austin Reaves this summer and keep him in one uniform for his entire career. All he wants to do is help the team win. That is what the iconic franchise is built on. This comeback should keep him wearing purple and gold for life.
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