Lakers 2024-2025 Player Preview: Austin Reaves
Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers held its media day, during which we saw the whole team together for the first time. One player that many Lakers faithful were excited to see and hear from was none other than Austin Reaves.
Reaves, entering his 4th season, has been the center of the Lakers’ fans’ attention for a good portion of the offseason, thanks to new coach JJ Redick. You could argue that nobody on this Lakers roster has more eyes on them heading into the 2024-25 season.
First, Redick spent a majority of the summer gushing over the skilled guard. Following the hiring of Redick, Reaves’ agent tweeted a warning shot of sorts to Lakers fans and the league alike. Why wouldn’t fans be excited to see what the team’s Ironman can do in his 3rd season?
Austin Reaves got his guy
talk soon. 😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/sYhCW7Wv7L
— ²³ (@SpeakContext) June 20, 2024
All reports from the practice facility have been highly positive, with him killing teammates in scrimmages. Rob Pelinka continued to pile on by hypothesizing about the leap from Reaves that we could see this season.
In an interview with ESPN LA Sports Radio, the Laker’s GM had this to say:
“Seeing Austin in some of these scrimmages, like his confidence with the ball, is something that has really stood out and I’m excited for our fans to see that. You look at evolutions of players, and I don’t compare players around the league, but you look at like a great player like a Jalen Brunson and the jump he had from his Dallas days to New York. Is there that delta? I’m not trying to put expectations like that on Austin Reaves, but you can see players develop in big ways throughout their career, and I’m gonna put my tokens down on Austin Reaves to do that just because of the work he puts in and just his fabric and nature. He’s an incredibly tough person and an incredible competitor and those things tend to elevate guys throughout their career.”
Expectations for Reaves in 24-25
In his 2023-24 campaign, Reaves averaged 16/4/6, shooting almost 37% from three. A steady contributor in all categories, Reaves also managed to be the only Laker to play all 82 games. For context, that was coming off a summer with Team USA in FIBA play.
It’s fair to anticipate a hotter start to the year than last season, having an entire offseason off to recover and train. According to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, Reaves also emphasized getting stronger physically.
Hopefully, any extra muscle mass accumulated will help him repeat his impressive feat of playing all 82 games.
From everything we’ve been hearing, believing those numbers will only go up would make sense. Redick is expected to have Reaves play more on the ball, and his rumored offensive ideas also seem to suit Reaves.
Austin Reaves says he thinks having the same squad from last season will benefit the Lakers this season.
He also said multiple guys can win games for the team:
“One night it might be me, one night it might be DLo. Obviously, Bron and AD are going to be themselves.” pic.twitter.com/UvA0Lr777r
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) September 30, 2024
When Redick talks about spacing, cutting, and a higher volume of threes, they sound like concepts Reaves could thrive in. Being an offensive hub, Anthony Davis should also benefit Reaves due to the spacing.
Given those factors, plus his increase in all three major stats over his first three seasons, what can we expect?
It may not be out of the question that he could average 20 points per game for the first time in his career. You can more than likely expect an increase in assists as well due to the higher usage percentage.
Now, should any Lakers fans anticipate Austin getting an All-Star nod? Don’t count on it. You can count on an incredibly skilled player getting more usage in a system that suits him perfectly.
Buy your Austin Reaves stock now because it’s only going up from here.
