Austin Reaves Discussion: How Much Is He Worth?

He played well except for 8 turnovers and being abused on defense

 

Had a few terrible turnovers (I counted 4) in the 3rd that I thought were going to break our back, but he settled and executed. Tough decisions with him this offseason, but great close out game for him.

 

His defense is going to be a major issue going forward. Love the way Austin competes, but he's a liability on defense in the playoffs.

 

Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart Discuss End To Lakers Season, Their Respective Futures

 

Some very good and some very bad plays .

 

here, i'll make three statements that will manage to piss off literally everyone:

1. reaves's market value is his max
2. reaves is a bona fide #2 in the current nba
3. reaves is not a point guard


i will not be taking questions at this time.

 

My comment to 1 and 2 is definitely not if you want to win. Giving out max contracts to players like Reaves is how NBA teams get stuck being mid for decades.

if you ask yourself, if we give him the max, what we would manage to get for him if we traded him, comparing him to similar players, you'll quickly conclude that not much, especially if you see the value of someone like Trey Young, who is the same archetype: high volume scorer who struggles in defense, and has actually had really good playoffs series.

If you're happy with not maximizing your chances of winning and accepting that you're giving him the max for partly sentimental reasons, then at least own it.

and by the way, if you feel that way, that is totally fine. AD was one of my favorite Lakers ever, and trading him felt like someone ripping my heart out.

 

if you ask yourself, what do we get if he walks in FA and we have 20 million dollars to spend (not 40, pay attention to the situation please), what are you going to get?

if you're happy with letting righteous anger and lakers exceptionalism help you make terrible choices, you can own that.

it's not sentiment. it's logic. players of reaves's caliber make that money, period (i'm really not taking questions on that one, tbh, just look at the stats and cap sheets). worst case, you're overpaying him by the tpmle. worst case you end up trading him for two role players later, when right now, the extra purchasing power may not get you one.

 

(bigger) max contract, fully healthy, bona fide, title-winning badass jamal murray vs. minny:

23/6/5 on 36/26 from the floor.

coming off injury, without luka, overrated austin reaves vs. okc:

21/7/4 on 43/30

and yes, ajay mitchell would absolutely roast jamal murray in isolation. teams hunt him even more than they hunt reaves, tbh, and the defensive stats support it.

 

He has spoken.

Austin ain't going anywhere.

 

if that's real info, who's leaking it and why now? guessing us, but for what purpose? to calm down the fans when he gets the max contract? to calm down the fans when giannis gets traded elsewhere? to try to sweet talk reaves into taking a bit less (or even a declining contract)?

with all the kumbaya stuff coming from smart, luke, reaves, and apparently luka, it's a shame rob can't gather all these guys in a room and ask a) what we all want going into next year in terms of roster additions and b) what people are willing to give up financially to make it happen.

 

I'm pretty sure that Rob, has already had all these discussions, with everyone by now. Personally I think Rob already saw, what he needed to see from these guys, in the Houston series. I don't think this team is far off, from legit contender status next season.

However as usual, some player on some team, is going to make a surprise request, publicly or privately, to be moved elsewhere;which could shake up the plans for several teams, including ours.

 

Jamal Murray has been huge in playoffs series wins, as a 2nd option since the bubble. We haven't won but maybe 1 playoffs game , with Austin as the 2nd option? That's a huge difference.

 

i think discussions with agents are being had all the time, but i'm not actually sure if the players themselves are involved until after the season is over. maybe i'm being naive, but i don't think they're all lying when they say they haven't focused on it. in fact, enough players admit to focusing on it that when folks say they don't, i actually believe them? like reaves's comment about doing things a day at a time? i buy it. i think he probably hasn't thought too much about what his salary will be next year and who will be paying it, sort of unconsciously figuring it will likely be here for a "a lot".

 

Man please..you are being either, very naive or obtuse right now.

 

reaves wasn't our second option in any of those. and he's supposed to be a second option to luka doncic, which is a far cry from what was asked here.

 

Then what's the point of trying to compare him to Murray in the first place? You are totally aware of the difference in roles.