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?

 

The problem with the NBA, but more focused on the Lakers, is that drop coverage or switch on everything are both lazy ineffective defenses that don't work on skilled players. With my highschool or comp teams we employ a bump and grind man defense that we work on every day. Too much to explain here but all five players have a job for everything attempting to be set. Key is attempting. Defender on ball set an angle and tightens on ball handler, arm out to hold off screener. Defender on screener gets in the screening lanes and bumps the intended screener into bad angles all the while talking to ball defender. The other three all jump into help mode, passing lanes and into trapping positions. Every screener or cutter gets at least one bump and hopefully more. Then aggressively block out and attack the ball. All this is done while often keeping teams out of the bonus and off the line by eliminating stupid reaching fouls. Thinking and conditioning are key and again too much more for this little space. We compete with schools many times our size by holding them way below averages and with coming 24 second clock it will be even better. We've played in tournaments in Canada already that use the shot clock. Amazing.

 

Thinking about cost controlled defensive minded wings, I think we’ve got to nail our pick this year. If we could buy another second rounder we could probably snag Jamir Watkins and Micah Peavy. Both seniors, both could compete for regular season minutes. Then sign whichever one impresses the most. And I like Knecht but still think he could be used to grab a young center, which saves the expirings for a POA defender in the backcourt.

 

people trying to trade this man....

 

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com...-contract-extension-nba-offseason-luka-doncic

in here, he says he wants to be here for life, and the article claims he's hoping for 30 million per on the next contract.

i'm good with both. he might be a bargain on 30 per, too, tbh. hopefully, we haven't been dangling him in the dumb trade scenarios i've seen suggested by others out on the internet, insulting him in the process.

 

Lakers nation Austin interview

 

There's 2 things driving him, with the first being like all great athletes "mentally" is his competitiveness and he KNOWS the level he has to get to in order to be IN that 30M(+?) range. I can't wait to see it. He played with Luka Doncic and those guys you know are talking shop, since Luka's not the uber athlete either .... duh. AR's game already was Luka Lite and spectacular in its best moments. Now these guys feed off each other. AR is quicker than Luka going to the rim .... with strong lower body strength. Pre-this summer's weight regimen.

 

I think Luka will have a better influence on him than Lebron does because he just doesn't have Lebron's body type. He cannot do what Lebron does but Luka is potentially within reach, at least his body type is close enough to potentially emulate Luka.

 

There's also a reality that Reaves has reached his potential.

I know some people are expecting improvements but at the end of the day, Reaves has already outperformed any level of expectations anyone - probably himself, had for him.

He's not a bad defender, just slightly average. Clearly you have to hide him on other guards who don't have the ball as much. He's a good shooter, playmaker, can knock down FT's, and knows how to share the ball.

He probably reached his ceiling as a player and that's totally fine.

The biggest issue the Lakers had this playoffs was no big. Luka does best when he has a big who can roll to the basket. Hayes gets shoved out of the lane too often and doesn't have the strength to fight off defenders. It's embarrassing that he sometimes gets outmuscled by guards.

So you effectively have Luka just playing perimeter basketball and that isn't at his best. Same with LeBron.. who in all honesty, should probably play power forward and let Luka control the ball.

Get a big and a few more 3/D shooters and this team will win a title. The unfortunate part is the Lakers would have beaten this Pacers team... They have no one capable of guarding LeBron and Luka... This was an easy title for the Lakers if they made it to the Finals.