Playing for the Los Angeles Lakers is by no means an easy task, but one of the “overrated” players seems untouched by themselves on the team.
Following their third seed finish during the 2024-25 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers have improved with a massive offseason addition.
With the dynamic duo of LeBron James and Luka Donsic already on the roster, the Lakers have real shots to win next season.
The Lakers had a positive offseason ahead of the offseason, but Bleacher Report’s Zack Buckley believes the team is based in one of the NBA’s most overrated players.
Despite not being drafted during the 2021 NBA Draft, Austin Reeves was able to become a key player for the Lakers.
That’s why many consider him the third best option in the league. Now, that’s a big statement. Obviously, the Lakers offered him an extension of his contract this summer.
However, Reaves declined the $90 million offer next season, hoping to sign a bigger deal. But is 27 worth such money? According to Buckley, AR15 instead belongs to the league’s most overrated player.
“Living under the Hollywood spotlight has both its perks and problems. The performance inside the Fish Bowl expands both its strengths and flaws, and often confuses players’ views of true ratings.
“In other words, he’s not really on this list because of Reaves, but he also benefits from being perhaps the most talked about third option in basketball,” writes Buckley.
“If they had posted the same 20.2 points and 5.8 assists on the New Orleans Pelican instead of the Lakers, would the headline be dedicated to him?” he added.
Buckley then analyzed how the Reaves “not spectacular” as they barely surpassed the average player efficiency rating last season.
“These are certainly good numbers, but they’re not spectacular. For that, they’re not even a career mark for players’ efficiency ratings (15.5, league average of 15) or BPM (plus 0.5).
“He’s a skilled scorer and a capable secondary playmaker, but he’s not an elite in either category. He’s also a limited on-ball defender who doesn’t play on the edge of the floor,” Buckley explained.
Despite Buckley’s points, Reaves has shown continuous growth since making their NBA debut in 2021. So, what does this mean for his next contract?
Should Reaves make around $30 million a year? It certainly doesn’t seem to think so.
“If you add all that, you see a solid starter or perhaps a high-end sixth guy who got hit (attack only?);
“Even so, you’ll hear that he’s a star, he’s out of control and that he could soon be paid $30 million north a year,” the NBA writer continued.
Ultimately, Buckley dropped a rather harsh verdict on the Reaves by labeling him as a “high-end role player.”
“He may be a high-end role player, but that’s probably going to close out because he may look younger in terms of NBA services (the four seasons under his belt), but his 27th birthday is already behind him.
“We may have already seen his best. His best is not as good as we’ve heard from the loudest and most optimistic parts of his fanbase,” concluded Buckley.