Aloha,
Watching Austin perform at such a high level really makes me wonder if he is poised to become the Lakers coveted 3rd star. Certainly Coaches Ham and Kerr believe he can.
Austin kind of reminds me of Manu Ginobili. He was the Spurs 3rd star. They both are big guards, high I.Q 2 way players. Austin is scoring at the same clip as Manu did. While Manu only made 2 all star games, he rode his overall game all the way to the hall of fame. Austin is showing the same game as Manu. The only question is, can he sustain it as teams focus on him. He is such a smart player, that I have little doubt that he will continue to excel.
I see all of these trade proposals for star players. They are almost all primarily scorers. The question is as a 3rd scorer on the Lakers, how much will they be able to score? I doubt they would score at the same clip they have as a 1st option. Is a pure scorer more valuable than a versatile 2 way player? I don’t believe it is.
A good example is Zach LaVine, a popular trade target with the media and bloggers. He averaged a little over 24 points a game last year. Would he duplicate that playing with the Lakers? A popular trade is DLO and Rui for LaVine plus’s picks and young players. Is Zach worth it when we have Austin? Dlo averaged 17 a game. Rui didn’t score as well in the regular season as he had with the Wizards. But he averaged 13 a game for his career and I’m confident that he will at least get that this season. He also a versatile defender and rebounds.
Now one of the big reasons folks want to trade DLO is because of his defense. Yet Zach has a career defensive rating of 113.9 while DLO’s is 113.6. So in essence by trading of LaVine, you get 6 points less a game and poorer defense for his 40 mil salary. Why would you do that when you have Austin and Rui?
When you examine most of these trade scenarios it usually the same. They generally are scorers. When you weigh what you give up against what you gain, we generally lose in the end with these trades.
I believe we already have a 3rd star. His name is Austin Reeves.
There’s a lot of this going around right now and, to a point, deservedly so. Reaves has been a solid contributor both for the Lakers and Team USA, no doubt. You bring up a point I often do, one that generally gets brushed aside: how will he do when he’s not surprising anyone anymore? His skills and smarts are both constantly on display, but what about his ability to adapt to changes in coverage?
We saw how THT did when defenses realized that he wasn’t fast, can’t jump, and just uses english to sp9n the ball into the rim around the hoop so sit on his jump shot and make him look to pass (and to his credit he finally started doing that in Utah after he got benched when the season mattered).
Reaves, I believe (and hope) is “smarter” than THT. The quotes are to indicate not wordly or intellectual smarts but hoops IQ. Reaves uses what he has very well and my hope is that, when defenses key in on him a little more, he can flash his improved dribbling and continue to be an effective and, probably more importantly, efficient scorer. It’s hard to find a guy like Reaves who scores well in a role with limited opportunities. It’s a lot easier to find guys like Nick Young who are “fearless gunners” but, if one is honest, just jack up shots when there’s a shred of daylight.
One helps build a winning team and culture, the other shoots the ball a lot, often when there’s a better play to be made, I believe Austin is and can continue to be part of group 1…but we’ll see. He’ll have more expectations, less space to hide in and won’t be surprising a single coaching staff. This season is a big test for Austin as he’s but one season removed from his “oh look, he hit the rookie wall” season.
THT withered and wilted when the defenses keyed into his skillset (which was limited, at the time) and I’ll forever believe we chose the wrong player betwixt THT and Caruso. They can, to a small degree, rectify that (and have taken the first steps in doing so) by relying and expecting more out of Reaves. Here’s hoping it all comes together for the young man for if his fortunes are positive it likely trickles down to the entire team.
I’m in agreement that there’s a great chance Austin Reaves will be the Lakers third star and a future All-Star. He’s actually taken multiple leaps in the last 6 months. First, when Westbrook was traded. Then in the playoffs. And now again in the World Cup.
When you can shoot, an entirely different universe of upsides emerge. THT’s vulnerability was always his shot. Fortunately, for Reaves, that’s his strength. He’s a potential 50/40/90 shooter who appears to have room for more volume without major decrease in efficiency
I like Michael’s comparison of Ginobili not for the style of game but for the style of impact Reaves can have. I always have a hard time comparing lefties with righties. Ginobili is a great comparison though for his ability to handle the ball and shoot the rock. Austin can do both and is clutch and impacts game even with limited shot opportunities. Pure Ginobili.
The Lakers know Reaves is the third star they want. What they’re looking for right now is really LeBron’s replacement. Buha’s article brought up a great point which is Reaves ascension to third star may now push the Lakers to go all in on replacing LeBron with a wing who can play the three, somebody like Brandon Ingram, OG Anunoby, or Cam Reddish?
I love the versatility and multiplicity of directions the Lakers can go. Bottom line, this is a superstars’ league and the Lakers are interested in BOTH replacing LeBron and finding a third star.
Austin Reaves may have narrowed their task to replacing LeBron.