Austin Reaves Discussion: Will He Stay Or Will He Go?

what's near max? again, who's showing up with more than 35 million to offer reaves next summer? we may not have to hit that number. but even if we did, the following year, that's like...two mles.

still feel like we'll immediately begin trying to trade two mles for a reaves type the second we moved him.

luka and kyrie went to the finals with the right support players, and sending luka out there without any other high caliber playmakers on the roster wouldn't work. so, yeah, you have lebron right now...but for like, one year. then you're full-blown search mode for...reaves. just re-sign him and work with that foundation for now.

 

Yeah, Kyrie (and Brunson, but especially Ky) is constantly on my mind when I think about AR. It can DEFINITELY and has been proven that it works.
I think the key is that right now the rest of our core is completely different. Especially Bron, there was nothing similar in those Dallas teams. We are missing heavily on wing stoppers and rim protectors.
So we are like 4 guys short in order to build that system with Luka/AR. And I would argue it may not be possible while having Bron. But yeah if we flood our frontcourt with defensive-minded guys (incl. DFS) + Bron, it may give us the best shot. I think that's the plan too. Makes the transition post-Bron much smoother too

Last point, JJ's defense philosophy exposes Luka/AR because of the heavy switching. But he's only 1 year in and maybe he did it because we lacked POA and lockdown defenders. But something to consider and monitor too

 

yep collect as many as we can now, so that when lebron walks, we can add the last piece via mle, which we'll probably have access to.

 

I guess I just don't really believe we will move him outside of some amazing deal so I'm not too worried about it overall. I think we can and will be able to build around a team with him and Luka,

 

Saying Austin is a weaker defender is too reductive. He's not great against the best guards in the league, but overall he holds up fine against guards. Where he struggles is getting switched onto bigger players, which is super normal. The solution is to just not employ a heavy switching scheme! It's not the right scheme for Austin, Luka, or LeBron. I'm coming around on keeping Reaves long term. Bird in the hand.

We need to be a primarily drop coverage team that can go switch-heavy when needed with certain personnel. That, of course, requires a good drop big. Good drop bigs tend not to be floor spacers except for like a handful of guys in the entire league, one of whom might be on our team next year in Lopez. All that to say, I think the reality of our current roster construction will force the coaching style to run a 4-out, 1-in style offensively and drop-heavy style defensively. I don't think that's how JJ would prefer to play on either end of the court; he wants to go 5-out, switch heavy like the C Bags.

 

AR also doesn't have as tight of a handle as Brunsen/Kyrie, and has been targeted for this the past, so that is also a concern.

 

…. BUT he does keep improving his handle even from start of this past season to the end and it’s already really good. Kyrie’s one of the greatest EVER in that skill set. IMO AR’s anything but non self aware and is NOT going to sleep on that this summer in prep for a “career contract year” so it will be even better. Sure he’s been targeted for it but let’s not exaggerate the level of success with that.

 

Yeah, I noticed he is working on it. I recall many on here upset about AR's ball handling, and as you said Kyrie happens to be one of the greatest ever at it, and also Jalen is also very good at it, being a smaller player and all, and just generally a skilled ball handler. Which is a bit ironic, and leaves some question marks, that's what I'm trying to say here.

 

Austin’s toughest issue is always going to be his athleticism. He isn’t overly fast, or overly strong or jumps out of the gym. Which means teams are going to target him defensively - which we can manage - however when teams lock in during the playoffs, and he’s a focal point, he has shown to struggle if he can’t generate free points via FTs.

Not sure how he solves this to really break into that star tier. Otherwise he is a fantastic player, shoots well, playmakes, draws fouls, isn’t afraid of the moment, great team mate, above average defensively.

 

Which is why I described above his prep this summer as being (IMO) for a “career contract year”. If he does improve as I suspect in strength up top (base is fine) with weight work he has to know he needs to reach the next level literally for “HIM” to go along with certainly possible all around skills bumps and a higher points per game average and all around offensive game ….. that will likely be his max ceiling and make him even more valuable going forward to the Lakers. At a fair salary range as others have mentioned in the high 20M to low 30M range. I could be wrong but if the Lakers offered him whatever years of security he might want at that level it would be a win win for both. In 2026 with the higher cap that’s still a value contract and ultimately tradable. Nowhere near an even higher tier closer to MAX level with the new cap. The non upper level athleticism probably caps him below the manageable 35M range. Long as we don’t insult him or be Caruso level stooopid about his value to the team …. given his history and connection to the team, personally I also “think” that just as AC was willing give a bit of a home town discount …. AR would be as well?