Can Austin Reaves be who the Lakers think he is?

Welcome to our Lakers Season Preview Series! For the next several weeks, we’ll be writing columns every weekday breaking down the biggest questions we have about every player the Lakers added this offseason. Today, we look at Austin Reaves.

Last year was a bit of a convergence season for Austin Reaves and the Lakers, where his pursuit of a new contract, his ever-expanding role and his continued upward development were all on a collision course to determine what his future on the only franchise he’d ever known would be.

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The fact that Reaves thrived when he was available to play and was ultimately rewarded handsomely with a lucrative new contract that pays him (essentially) his maximum allowable salary, should not be a surprise. The Lakers see Reaves as one of their true success stories: a player plucked from the world of undrafted free agents and developed into a high level contributor. There’s institutional value that comes from that beyond what he produces on the court.

But it is that tangible improvement he’s shown every season and is baked into the story of Reaves’ NBA life that the Lakers are also paying for. Reaves went from a converted two-way contract as a rookie who only saw the court because of his hustle, connective instincts and competitive nature on defense to, in every ensuing season, adding more responsibility and production offensively to the point that, this past year, he was slotted above LeBron James in the pecking order.

MIAMI, FLORIDA – MARCH 19: Austin Reaves #15 and LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers speak during the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on March 19, 2026 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images

That Reaves has done all this while never completely losing sight of his role-player roots is what makes him a cultural touchstone for head coach JJ Redick and a leader as the now longest tenured Laker on the roster. That his…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/austin-reaves-lakers-think-220645096.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-23 22:06:00

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