When the Los Angeles Lakers picked up Austin Reaves as an undrafted rookie this summer, the expectations for him were minimal.
He started on a two-way contract and would’ve spent time developing with the South Bay Lakers, Los Angeles’ G League affiliate. However, the Lakers promoted Reaves early in the season and gave him a spot on the 15-man roster.
Through 23 games — he’s missed time with a hamstring injury and in the league’s health and safety protocol — Reaves has been a consistently sound basketball player on both ends of the floor.
He’s averaging 6.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 20.6 minutes per game with a 53.1/38.6/88 shooting split. His performance, including a game-winner against the Dallas Mavericks, led to the Lakers guaranteeing his contract for the rest of the season.
After Reaves dropped 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting overall and 4-of-7 from deep against the Sacramento Kings Wednesday, Skip Bayless gave his thoughts on how Reaves has played:
Right now, the second best all-around player on the Lakers is … Austin Reaves, the undrafted rookie. Seriously. He makes good things happen on both ends with his fearless relentlessness.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 13, 2022
With LeBron James presumably No. 1 for Skip, he ranks Reaves higher than Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
Of course, that ranking is debatable. But if Reaves has made anything clear during his playing time, it’s that he needs to play as much as possible. He makes winning plays.
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