Austin Reaves Discussion: How Much Is He Worth?

His agent knew and said it this past summer during the trade AR frenzy within Laker Nation. At his low salary level and cap hold (really bad move). Before even seeing what he looked like this year, yet again taking his game to a higher level.

 

Seems like everyone was predicting us to have a 1A and 1B, they just had the wrong guy as our 1B!! I think we end up with a 1A, 1B and 1C. Let's just pray that Lebron comes back as good as last year.

 

Honestly, Magic, Scott and Cooper were a great trio at guard. Not many are better. I think Luka, Reaves and Smart are in that category.

 

AR is the anti-Kuzma

 

.... yeah I'm thinking AR passes on this look.

 

Austin better at something, other than golf, than Luka?

 

take your medication

 

Well is there was a worry about AR getting overwhelmed by physical athletic POA defenders this is the game for you.

That being said JJ needs to helps his players here. Get AR some PnR when they're converging on Luka

 

In all fairness, I’ve seen Austin go up against some really good defenders over his career and still cook them. OKC, though, has a roster full of athletic guys who can swarm you and make life miserable. They’re probably one of the few teams that can throw wave after wave of capable defenders at you. It’s impressive—and if they stay healthy, I think they have a real shot to repeat. They’re that good.

Looking at the numbers after tonight, Austin’s still sitting at about 62.4% TS, while the average shooting guard is around 58%. So he’s still performing above the positional average. That said, I still wouldn’t max him out. I’ve always believed he’s the ideal third option—someone who can consistently win those matchups and thrive in that role.

If Austin’s your number two against a team like OKC—or anyone built similarly—you’re probably losing that series in five or six, in my opinion.

All good, though. It’s a long season. He’ll be fine.

 

Your comments in the chat room were much more negative than the passive aggressive stuff you posted above.

It's just one game. We were due for a stinker at some point this road trip. Our entire team played bad, and yet you only post in the AR thread. You should have at least posted in the Luka thread as well, commenting that he's an ideal second option. That way your intent wouldn't have been so obvious.

It's ok, though. Can't be a fan of everyone on the roster. You'll be fine.

 

Lol

 

What are you talking about? The first post I made was in the Luka thread? Look at the timestamp? Are you kidding me? LMAO. He isn't an ideal second option, and if you caught my intent in the GD thread, I was trolling.

I had EVERYBODY come at me after Reaves 2 game stretch. Everybody. Were you not here? I have a little fun, and you post this nonsense? Give me a break. Or just put me on ignore. Dont' care.

 

This is really the last question left for Austin. Can you sustain production and generate good offense against better, more focused and more physical defenders when the refs aren't giving you the regular season foul baiting stuff. If the answer is yes, pay him up to his max and lock him in as the #2 with Luka for years to come. If the answer is no, well then you have to start thinking about bringing in someone else you can do those things.

That's not a knock on Austin in any way - it's basically the difference between being a Top 25 player in the league and being "just" a Top 40ish player in the league.

 

The Playoffs are what matters most. Can you do in the playoffs? It's a must, if you are going to win the 4 series, it takes to get the chip.

That's the real question and that's still TBD. Austin is the 2nd option with LeBron out, but he won't be in the playoffs. Being a star in his role as the 3rd option, that might be enough.

We are going to have to replace LeBron eventually, I don't know if Austin can do that. However.. we might only need another guy, a step above Rui.

 

top 40 players still make > 35m per, so either way, he's going to get paid. and we'd be fools to let 5 million dollars of salary difference put us in the hunt for both a second and third level star with only cap space and our charms to help us.

 

Yeah it's not the difference between signing him and not signing him. It's the difference between signing him and feeling great about it and signing him with a view toward bringing in a better #2, even if it means he goes out in that trade. But we're at the point now where signing him is a no-brainer.