Austin Reaves Discussion: How Much Is He Worth?

I support all current and former players that play solid D. What are YOU trying to say?

 

The full quote from JJ today on Austin, “Every day that he’s been in the gym, he’s been the best player in the gym. His body is really good right now. He’s really strong. His burst, his athleticism. It’s evident that he spent a lot of time working on his body this summer.”

 

It's clear that he's the player under the spotlight this season.

While he's already a very good player, he needs to prove he can be an asset for the Lakers more on the court than in trade talks.
This is because he remains our player with the most trade appeal.

 

You kind of say it like he hasn't been all that for the whole time he's been here while improving each year? That 20 points and whatever rebounds he averaged last season would likely have been even more in the scoring department if DLO hadn't been here. Luka's here now fine .... AR is a consummately skilled offensive player and "glue" player who will do whatever is needed from him on offense, including going HAM if tasked to be the #1 option multiple times last year with LeBron and/or Luka not on the floor and is adequate enough on D if he doesn't have to continually be tasked with the other team's best/quickest guard.

 

Talk about click bait .... I get onto my Mac as opposed to the phone and this headline is screaming at me.

Lakers' Austin Reaves gets monstrous $100M contract update with training camp looming

Then I click on the sorry Yahoo article and it says it was sourced from The Sporting News where I went next and couldn't even find it, rather some other AR article about what his role may be this year as if he's worried about it. Just some clowns talking about it I guess. Didn't listen.




https://sports.yahoo.com/article/lakers-austin-reaves-gets-monstrous-072541348.html

 

yeah, that's weird phrasing.

 

He was tired of getting targeted and pushed around. Nothing like a bruised ego for motivation. With the players we have added, this speaks well for our defense. AR and Luka are going to be solid defenders. I might have to quit being cheap and buy a TV.

 

Austin was targeted on defense because we were so switch heavy. We were willing conceding Austin switches onto Randle during that series because of the scheme. If we just stop switching so much, the "issue" of Austin's defense is greatly mitigated.

 

Shirley you can't be serious with the no TV thing? What the H fun would it be just typing and reading. Probably a joke but with your rough hours get SOME kind of service or gear where you can time shift. Not going to break you. It's the freaking LAKERS.



Edit …. now I think I do remember you saying you didn’t have a TV …. only went to local bar(s) to watch and between coaching and working nights it’s become really tough. See above though. You can get decent 50” TVs these days (don’t do smaller IMO) for 200-300 bucks.

 

And a career contract year to take that next big step up in performance. His agent said early on something to the effect we're not going to believe how good he's going to be this year. It was common sense to me that getting in the weight room or however he has addressed the strength need would be happening toward that goal and said so while everyone was sitting around the camp fire playing with ........... trades for AR before even seeing him this season. Because we have Luka now. As if injuries never happen. And as if he's not an amazing player that should remain a Laker .... especially if willing to give a hometown discount same as the Eagle was willing to. We have Walters now for the Bird rights repeater penalties once we have a great squad put together for Luka's window, starting this year.

 

yeah, not to merge threads, but i think our better defense was a mirage a la dantoni's switch-everything houston teams. it works fine in the regular season and maybe against obviously inferior playoff opponents, but it's not something you can ride to an nba title.

reaves isn't a terrible individual defender. he can't guard quick guys in isolation. if he's going to be our starting pg in a big lineup, we're going to have to scheme for this. but it won't be his fault, as lots of more athletic, better defending sgs also can't contain nba pgs out top in space. this is why most teams employ someone who can!

 

Another unsolicited 2 cents cause I’m bored waiting for camp and reporting on it ….… on Austin. Remember Tyrese called him “sneaky athletic” 2 years ago during the FIBA tournament when he was less so than last season especially in the open court and getting first step blowing by defenders. Note that yesterday Redick made reference to his strength now in the gym, explosiveness and athleticism. I have detailed with photos during games in the past where he is arguably at least 36” in the air going up for one reason or another …. shot blocking, rebounding, whatever. If AR had big hands or if he had a lot more (next to none now to be safe) confidence in cupping the ball to one handed throw it down vs the always 2 handers ….. there would or should be a lot less folks here going with the lazy “unathletic” characterizations of him.

 

Yeah, then they could just say he's white!!! As long as we are leaning into lazy!!

 

he's not very quick laterally/reactively on defense. this is why tyronn lue uses basically any scoring guard in isolation against him as his plan A on offense.

he's more athletic than he gets credit for (like knecht), but he's just not going to be a perimeter stopper. his strength and hoop iq will make him able to be part of a good team defense, though.

 

His sneaky athleticism was one of the things that got me so high on him early on. Another thing that is very significant, with the spotlight beginning to shine on a team friendly guy like Luka, it will be more on the team as well. Morale will be much higher and it will show in the effort and performance. By the same token, it will also make it much easier for JJ to implement the style he wants the team to play.

 

All true but you notice I was kind of referencing mainly offensive capabilities and vertical where it’s not as much of a hindrance as POA defense that everybody fixates on.

 

like luka, he can cook offensively against much better athletes. he's just so skilled and fearless--and yes, has more burst than people suggest.

my concern is that it seems like he's going to be--for at least 12 minutes per game if not much more--our primary POA defender, and he's just ill-suited to this. not his fault. and we need to solve that either by personnel (get some quick perimeter guys) or coaching (stop switching and do a very well-executed-and-practiced soft hedge on ball screens) moves.

 

Though we’re not getting anyone new beyond the 3 excellent, even if not elite, additions/improvents in Ayton, Smart and LaRavia …. to throw at our defensive problems ….. I believe it’s a given we are going to see internal improvement as well from every single person on the roster including from the coaching staff themselves a year under their belt now with a much deeper and more talented roster.

And THEN we’ll have the deadline coming up and leverage on our side with a great first half seeding.

 

His defense ain't great. I don't think it's bad but he's definitely targeted as the weakest link by other teams.

Doesn't help that Luka isn't a good defender either so you're basically relying on two weak non-athletic defenders with a slow first step.

That's where Marcus Smart steps in. He's going to fight through screens and take that assignment away from Luka and Reaves. I'd like if LeBron sorta became that guy for us, too. With Luka+Reaves, you have your offense. LeBron should play that Iguodala role. But at his age, it's understandable if he prefers not to.

Part of why the Lakers relied on so much switching is because they lost AD. It went from funneling the offense into AD and hoping AD can stop the shot to switching everything because they didn't have the personnel to play it any other way. Doesn't help that Hayes just chases blocks and gets shoved by small guards.

And this is where I think Ayton can have the most impact. If he can just give you a resemblance of AD's defense, this team is DANGEROUS. It all hinges on Ayton, IMO. He obviously has the size, skill, and youth is on his side. But if he has no motivation to be great and all you get is an empty stat center who whines on the bench, you're going to be in trouble.