Austin Reaves Discussion: "Keeping The Vibes High"

“I love your body Larry.”

 

EVERYONE who plays for my team must endure scrutiny- it’s the price you pay for having the privilege of representing the best Sports Franchise in all of sportsdom.

 

I'm all for everyone scrutinizing away. IMO there isn't any if, AR is a legit second option and has shown it. We are a top team that can beat those scrubs you mentioned...lol.

 

Absolutely agree. Can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen and have a salad.

 

How did Kobe shoot in that series against the C Bags, when we won a ring?? I remember a deciding game where Kobe could not hardly make a shot, so he did other things and we won. Point is, s*** happens with every single player. Nobody plays perfect all the time.

 

While being aware of the fact I am wasting my prescious time here...

I think the “Reaves doesn’t raise his game in the playoffs” argument has become one of those things that gets repeated so often that people stop checking whether it is actually true.

In 2022–23, Austin went from 13.0/3.0/3.4 in the regular season to 16.9/4.4/4.6 in the playoffs, while shooting 44% from three. He was arguably the Lakers’ third-best player during a run to the WCF and averaged over 21 points against Denver. That is pretty much the definition of raising your game in the playoffs.

In 2024, he averaged 16.8 points against Denver — slightly more than in the regular season. He was inconsistent and his three-point shooting dropped, but he certainly wasn’t played off the floor or exposed as someone who couldn’t handle playoff basketball.

The last two years were obviously worse, but context matters. He played the 2025 series with a sprained big toe and reportedly tried to stay off it completely between games. This year he returned during the playoffs from a Grade 2 oblique strain after missing almost a month, yet still had games of 31 and 27 points against OKC. Judging either series as if he were fully healthy seems a little dishonest.

We have also seen him consistently scale up when the Lakers’ stars are unavailable: 32 in Boston without LeBron and AD, 45 against Indiana without LeBron and Luka, and 51/11/9 in Sacramento without LeBron and Luka. Whatever his limitations are, hiding behind better players or under pressure is not one of them.

There are perfectly reasonable questions about paying him around $45 million a year — especially his defense and overall physicality (which BTW can still improve and is not as bad as some tend to portray it). But “he disappears in the playoffs” is not a particularly strong argument. His healthy playoff résumé is actually one of the better arguments in his favor.

 

yeah, but get ready to hear that everyone is always injured in the playoffs to the same extent. this was the latest irrefutable argument against him--others have the same injuries but just perform nonetheless (no they don't). the next argument will be that other top players don't get injured as much (yes they do).

 

Well, personally, I don’t have the drive or motivation to argue with people who clearly won’t accept any arguments from the other side and who will stick to their position no matter what. As far as I’m aware, this particular argument comes from precisely that sort of source, so I intend to ignore it with great determination .

 

Let's play a game about "legit 2nd options." Here's the list of current NBA salaries in order from highest to lowest. Reaves is 39th. Now, I ask anyone to identify legit 2nd options that meet all the following criteria that Reaves is held to:

- 2nd option on offense
- Above average defender
- Limited to no injury history
- Proven playoff performer

Now, once you've found that player(s), how much are they currently paid? How old are they and when are they due for an extension? Can't wait to see the long list of legit 2nd options.

 

this is basically the same exercise we performed early in the summer, when everyone was saying we'd be dumb to offer over 30 per, and i (and some others) kept saying it was likely he would be maxed. the market for him was his max.

the only guys making the same money who are better signed their contracts before they made an all-nba team and will be getting a supermax in the near future (e.g., maxey, brunson, SGA).

otherwise, his salary is in the darius garland, desmond bane, franz wagner, anunoby, markkanen, lamelo ball tier.

 

Looks like almost every single player on that entire list ahead of Reaves, was considered a 1st or 2nd option period. Austin was the 3rd option. That's fine at a 14M salary.

What happened happened, and if it happened again as the 2nd option now, there will be blowback about it. It wouldn't be any different than the Ad/Lebron are always hurt, that's why we can't advance in the playoffs, argument, that some people used around here. So this would also apply to Luka if he's dealing with injuries for a 3rd consecutive postseason.

What's supposed to be the difference professor? How many of them saw drop offs from thier regular season numbers, in the playoffs for 2-3 seasons in a row, that were attributed to injuries? What were thier salaries?

 

Well it’s true with AD and LeBron and will be the same with Luka and AR. What’s your point. Who were/are the better 2 options we screwed up on not getting them instead. There’s no guarantees on health for anyone.

 

We’re the Lakers!! We deserve players that don’t get hurt!!!

 

I didn't say anything in my original post about who was or wasn't a better 2nd option available. I also didn't say anything about whether Austin deserved his contract or not.

What I said was if that happened again, there will be blow back about it, if it happened again at 40M per.

Injuries do happened and that applies to everyone. However if you are making a higher salary, and it's a frequent occurrence, the chatter about "always being hurt" will get loud.

What about what I said was incorrect LT?

 

This deflection has absolutely nothing to do, with what I posted sir.

 

It has EVERYTHING to do with it. I agreed with you!

 

I'm expecting All-Star team and 2nd/3rd team NBA, and 65-72 games played and a good go great PO run.

He'll miss 10-12 games. That's fine. Rest, nagging injuries, sh** happens, but everything else above should happen if he's healthy, and we should all expect that. He was doing it in November to early December, so let's get those results, and go from there.

This is what 2nd option $45 million dollar expectations get you...

 

That’s possible with AR. I approve your expectations. Health … we hold our breath for our top two players and the timing and severity of any unplanned for injuries. Same as every other team in sports.

 

I was confused by the what better 2nd options were available part, because that's not something I brought up. I stand corrected.

 

I'm expecting All-Star team and 2nd/3rd team NBA, and 65-72 games played and a good go great PO run.

Now..that's outstanding..That's almost 99.9 % garunteed, that he wouldn't shoot 40% from the field and 30% from 3 in the playoffs.