Season Review: Austin Reaves

Despite experiencing growing pains with an expanded role, Austin Reaves showed up to the challenge for the Lakers. However, there is still work that needs to be done.

Welcome to our annual Lakers season in-review series, where we’ll look back at each player on the team’s roster this season and evaluate if they should be part of the future of the franchise. Today, we take a look at Austin Reaves.

Life moves pretty fast in the NBA. Just ask Austin Reaves.

It feels like yesterday when the once undrafted guard from Newark, Arkansas, arrived on the scene. From scrapping for every minute of playing time with the Lakers to letting the world know “I’m Him!” in the playoffs, Reaves has seen and experienced a lot in his three seasons in the league.

This past year arguably was his most eventful yet. After his stellar sophomore season catapulted him into a new contract, Reaves entered the new campaign with lofty expectations both in terms of his play and his role.

Serving predominately as a connector on offense and grinder everywhere else early in his career, Reaves was tasked with bigger responsibilities this season as seen by his drastic shift on the ball.

Although there were growing pains along the way with his newly expanded role, Reaves still proved why those within the organization are high on him, and in the process, revealed why there is still plenty of room left for him to grow.

How did he play?

When evaluating how Reaves played this year it is first important to contextualize how his duties changed. On offense, the team gave Reaves far more on-ball opportunities to orchestrate scoring chances for himself and his teammates.

For example, Reaves’ usage rate — which ranked ninth on the team last season — jumped 5.4% this year, good for the fourth-highest on the Lakers. And among players who averaged at least 10 minutes, Reaves led the team in seconds per touch, according to the NBA’s tracking data.

Due to serving as a conductor compared to a violinist, Reaves’ offense was often left for him to write. He still benefitted from playing next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but felt firsthand the challenges that come with being “him.”

One illustration of his was seen in his 3-point percentage. While Reaves shot a respectable 37% on his non-garbage time chances, it was down 4% from a season ago and often waxed and waned throughout the year.

There are a few reasons for this slippage. For one, Reaves shot over 200 more attempts compared to last year. The sheer increased volume is bound to even out the numbers. Perhaps more detrimental was how much more of his opportunities were self-generated versus his teammates’ playmaking.

Only 68% of his 3-point makes on the season came via an assist from a teammate, down a staggering 18% from a season ago. As a result, Reaves had to create his looks off a pick or live dribble compared to the catch-and-shoot variety.

In one of the most eye-opening examples of his new role, Reaves attempted 161 threes after dribbling at least once. Last season he logged just 50.

Eventually, Reaves adjusted well to an increased workload. There were warts along the way as seen in his turnovers, questionable shot selection, and feeling the effects of being circled on opposing gameplans. But in the aggregate, Reaves proved some skeptics wrong.

After his conditioning and physicality were questioned, Reaves responded by playing in all 82 games, including the Lakers’ in-season tournament final when he was battling the flu. It is also important to note the guard also competed for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup in the offseason.

Another critique of Reaves’ game is the generous whistle he has received since entering the league. That too changed this year as Reaves averaged fewer trips to the line and his shooting fouled percentage — percentage of a player’s shots they were fouled on — dropped 10% from a season ago.

Despite not getting the call as often, Reaves still put up a career-high in points per contest and finished with a 57.4% eFG% that ranked in the 83rd percentile among combo guards.

While the offense remained intact, there are still question marks regarding the other end of the floor. Once one of the Lakers’ scrappiest defenders in his first two seasons, Reaves took a noticeable step back this year. So much so that the opposition often targeted him on defense.

When he competes, Reaves still shows he can have a positive impact. That said, there is a ceiling to his effectiveness given his size and athleticism. This is especially made evident when he shares a backcourt with a guard who possesses similar deficiencies as was the case with D’Angelo Russell.

This is something the Lakers need to be mindful of going forward. His ability to rotate on and off the ball is valuable next to high-usage players. But there needs to be planning on how to build a viable championship-level defense around him.

What is his contract situation moving forward?

After signing a four-year, $54 million extension with the Lakers last summer, Reaves will enter next season with three years remaining on his deal. The 25-year-old can opt out early during the 2026-27 campaign if he utilizes his player option.

Given the bargain deal and due just $14.9 million in his potential walk year, it is extremely likely Reaves will retest the market. If this is the case, it is possible the Lakers could only have the guard locked up for the next two seasons.

This is a reality that they will have to plan for, either by re-signing him to a longer, more lucrative deal or by looking to move him before he leaves for nothing.

Should he be back?

From a contractual standpoint, Reaves will be back next year. Because that’s, you know, how player-team agreements work. However, there is an outcome where that could change.

While there have been conflicting reports about what direction the Lakers will take this offseason, chasing a star should never be discounted. That’s what they do and always have done. Gobbling up big names is as interwoven in the franchise’s fabric as Jack Nicholson, free tacos from Jack in a Box and Pat Riley’s Giorgio Armani suits.

If this is the path, any framework for a blockbuster trade will likely start and end with Reaves’ inclusion.

Beyond his production and ability, Reaves’ extremely team-friendly contract is the best on the Lakers’ books even if he opts out down the line. And with so many teams aggressively looking to stay under the second apron of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, players on modest contracts could be viewed as good as gold.

Even if they feel the 3-star approach is the business they want to be in, the Lakers would be wise to fight hard to keep Reaves out of any potential deal. Whether or not they can remains to be seen.

There will come a point when the team has to make a difficult decision about Reaves’ future. Given his limitations, will he be worth the eventual big money? Does he still have room to grow? Can trading him backfire?

History has shown how easy it is for a front office to overvalue their players to a fault — especially those who blossomed under their noses. The same goes for giving up on them too early, mortgaging the future in hopes that the grass is greener on the other side.

Whatever the Lakers decide to do with Reaves now, and later, could be one of the decisions that will be remembered as an important pivot point of this era.

All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated.

You can follow Alex on Twitter at @AlexmRegla.