Over the last two seasons, Austin Reaves has gone from an undrafted rookie who was originally signed to a two-way contract to a vital role player for the Los Angeles Lakers.
It’s a similar path to the one Alex Caruso followed a few years ago on his way to becoming a key part of the Lakers’ 2020 championship team.
Comparisons between the two have been unavoidable. Both are 6-foot-5 guards who have occasionally started but mostly come off the bench. Both have been popular with Lakers fans, even to the point of getting MVP chants.
The two players have also been compared because, yes, they happen to be white in a predominantly Black league.
But a closer look at their games reveals they’re significantly different basketball players.
That seemed to be the point Reaves made when asked about such comparisons while on the “Point Forward” podcast with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner.
“Do you ever feel any pressure when you show up as Austin Reaves, but this was a Caruso city?” Reaves was asked.
“No, not at all… I got the question the other day because we get compared a lot, and I said that ‘we’re white, and we play for the Lakers.’ And that’s really about it. But that’s nothing against him. He’s figured out how to be a really, really good on-ball defender and like I said earlier about Bron, he’s an IQ player that fit really good with Bron.”
Once one looks past Caruso’s outsized popularity during his tenure with L.A., one can see how different he is from Reaves, as well as his limitations. While Caruso, who is now a Chicago Bull and faced Reaves’ Lakers on Sunday, is considered an excellent one-on-one defender, he’s very limited offensively.
He lacks the ability to break defenders off the dribble, set up teammates or consistently hit open 3-pointers.
Reaves may not be as good a defender as Caruso, although he’s not exactly a bad one. But it’s the former’s versatility and skill sets on offense that have made him indispensable to L.A.’s success, as he can advance the ball down the court, facilitate for teammates, create a bit for himself, draw fouls and hit 3-pointers at a high rate.