Austin Reeves appears as one of the best players in the Los Angeles Lakers and plays a major role in his title hopes.
In his 22nd NBA season, LeBron James has the best supporting cast since his days with the Miami Heat. At 40, he couldn’t lead the team to the finals himself like in the past few years, so the Los Angeles Lakers built him an elite support cast.
The trade that landed them can choke up Luka Donsic to the stupid luck and incompetent of the Dallas Mavericks, but the appearance of Austin Reeves cannot be overlooked as the league’s best third choice.
In recent years, the Lakers have drafted Josh Hart, Julius Randle, Dangelo Russell, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, but Reeves, which was not drafted in 2021, is one of Los Angeles’ best developmental stories in recent years.
One of the former Lakers assistant coaches knew what the Reaves could do long before someone else could do it.
Heading into the Reaves rookie season from 2021-22, the Lakers were upset. They appeared to have upgraded their roster by winning the final in 2020, but lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns in 2021. Heading towards the Raves’ first season, the Lakers had a loaded roster.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are joined by Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo.
Rondo and Howard were critical in the 2020 final, but they ended their careers back in LA after playing elsewhere in 2020-21, but they and everyone else were eliminated by Normame security guards.
“He had Russ, Carmelo, Trevor Aliza in his first year. We had all these veterans on our team. We had mini-camps. Austin Reeves was the best player in the gym.” All smoke.
Westbrook, Anthony and Howard are either Hall of Fame or will certainly retire.
“He was the best player in the gym and he started out as a two-way player. When that camp was over, the Lakers signed him.”
That summer, the Reaves averaged only nine points and 2.4 assists in the summer league. His rookie season wasn’t that good, but the possibilities were clear.
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Handy linked with James after being an assistant coach for the Lakers and an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2019-24. He is known for his player development and played six finals in a row as an assistant.
“I’ve never met him, but I saw a clip of him playing in college. People think this is what it is now. When I saw his game in Oklahoma, he got ___.
“I saw it, I saw it, I saw a summer league game and he wasn’t shooting the ball. It was when I walked and said, ‘Come here, you want to make this team, shoot the ____ ballman.’
In college, Reeves was by no means the best player. During two seasons with Wichita State Shocker, he had to back up Laundry Shamett. He transferred to Oklahoma and created an all-big 12 team in his final season.
As an undrafted player, Reaves had to fight for merely a roster spot. Now he’s one of the favourite and best players of a legitimate NBA title, and he’s got a chance just because he spent the summer surpassing NBA legends.