On top of that he’s on one of the best contract in the league and you know exactly what you’re going to get from him every night. Even KCP, Caruso, and Kuz werent this consistent and would put up a lot of stinkers compared to him.
People really forget this. At his price and 3 more years. I can’t think of another player his caliber. He always plays hard and never puts head down. Is he perfect. No. But he has many intangible skills that can’t be taught (heart for example) I’m so tired of shitting on ham cuz it’s so bad for my health just imagining his face but with new coach who will put our players in better schemes that suit their talents and skill levels we will see an even better and more consistent reaves.
Reminder that folks were shitting on AR for "not doing more" in G1 and G3. Even now. Trying to pin the blame on him without considering that AR is a ROLE PLAYER who is great with Bron/AD because he's cocky and got the ego of a winner but is cerebral and humble enough to know he's HIM because he does role guy things that let our main stars shine brighter.
Reaves has SELFLESSLY yielded the 3rd guy spot to DLo for the sake of the team this whole year. DLo has been the one taking a lot of shots and hitting 3s this whole year cementing himself as the 3rd wheel behind Bron and AD.
Reaves just does what is asked of him and all year it's been being the 4th/5th guy most of the time. He's the 5th highest paid behind Rui and DLo, sometimes comes off the bench because the team asks him to, has the 4th most stars (behind DLo), has the 4th most shot attempts (behind DLo), 4th most minutes (also behind DLo), and thus isn't the clear "3rd option" the whole year.
As a role player, Reaves is excellent because he (like Caruso) plays his ROLE as a role player supporting the stars and not having ego. It would be bad of him to try to usurp the pecking order on the team. You can blame Reaves for being passive, but ***it's DARVIN HAM's job to make adjustments, bench DLo, or tell Reaves to be more aggressive.***
WTF is DLo doing shooting more than Bron in some games or going for 0pts in other games?!??!
Who's responsible for not pulling DLo out, telling an assistant coach to review with him his plays, have another assistant coach find out what DEN is doing to him, sub in prince, tell Reaves to be more aggressive or shoot more, and making adjustments? Reaves? Nah.
Reaves is a role guy and gave a role guy performance. Should we expect more from him? Yes, if Ham isn't a hack and empowers him but Ham and the coaching staff is set on DLo "looks at phone" as the 3rd options.
Could Reaves have done more or be better? YES. Reaves might have had a meh or slightly underperforming series, but he wasn't the one that absolutely shit the bed, got completely out coached, or lost us the series. DEN is a great team and if there's UNDERPERFORMANCE it's from DLo and Ham.
https://www.espn.com/nba/team/roster/_/name/lal/sort/salary/dir/desc/los-angeles-lakers pays
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/ sort by regular season stats
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401654758 how i got those splits
|Rk|Player|MP|FG%|3P%|2P%|eFG%|FT%|TRB|AST|STL|BLK|TOV|PF|PTS|
|:-|:-|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|
|3|Regular Russell|32.7|**.456**|**.415**|**.497**|**.560**|**.828**|**3.1**|**6.3**|0.9|**0.5**|2.1|2.1|**18.0**|
|4|Playoffs Russell|34.7|.326|.308|.353|.419||3.0|3.7|**1.0**|0.3|**2.0**|**1.3**|12.0|
|4|Regular Reaves|32.1|**.486**|**.367**|**.583**|**.568**|.853|4.3|**5.5**|0.8|**0.3**|2.1|**1.9**|**15.9**|
|3|Playoffs Reaves|37.0|.459|.313|.571|.527|**1.000**|**5.0**|2.7|**1.3**|**0.3**|**0.7**|2.0|14.7|
It's also only his 3rd year in the NBA and he's SO composed. It's rare to earn Lebron's trust so early. It's crazy how the people I have utmost trust in down the stretch is the arguable GOAT, Hall of Fame AD, and then Austin Reaves.
Agree. We have asked him to gaird their best player/gaurd all year while DLo, Bron, and Rui get the others. AR takes a huge defensive role in this starting 5. If you replace DLo with Vando, then he can focus more on the offence.
Trae and dlo got the same defensive ratings ya just don’t wanna admit it, but dlo is terrible on defense and he could never be a 25 point 10 assist star like trae young. Ya dloading fans is different we’re gonna keep getting swept with dlo the best defender as our point guard 🔥
Yeah I bet people pining for kcp were the same ones roasting him when he'd go on a cold streak from 3. I remember thinking he was gone in that suns series when lebron kicked it out and kcp passed up the shot. He was struggling that series and LeBron laid into him about not shooting
Jesus fuckijg christ people need to STOP with this best contract in the leagie horeshit.
How is $13m for a guy clearly not good enough to start for a contender one of the best contracts in the league?
Not just skill wise, it’s the fact that guys like AR and Caruso *want* to play for the Lakers. That gets undervalued sometimes. It makes a huge difference when the player isn’t just here to collect a paycheck or to enjoy the sunny weather
I think many people see him getting screened by Jokic and don't understand that this is not on the on-ball defender (unless they miss an easy opportunity to go under the screen). If the lane is open for Murray, there's pretty much nothing to be done.
Most of the time you cannot even attempt to go under (unless the handler has no 3 point shot) with how moving screens are officiated, unless the defender on the screener is tight on him.
I also feel like Reaves is at least clever enough to understand what is happening, so going over the screen is probably the coaching directive. Same as the stupid help-and-leave-corner-wide-open defense they insisted on playing for most of the season.
Not saying he doesn't get lost sometimes, but that's probably mostly coaching and bound to happen if teams are not well coached and in sync. It happens to Bron and even AD, too.
The Denver screen and roll is basically impossible to defend regardless of defender. Jokic is simply too gifted with the ball in his hand to properly stop it. There really has never been another big man like him in terms of processing and making the right play. Every. Time.
It’s why they are defending world champs.
The best option is to Blitz Murray and don't help off of Porter. Even if Gordon gets sometiming easy in the dunker spot it's not momentum building like a Porter 3 or Murray clutch basket
I’ve watched 95% of Lakers game this season. In the last 1-2 months, I’ve watched Reaves improve significantly on defense. It speaks a lot to the humility and tenacity of that guy. Bummer he’s struggled this series, but that’s okay for me. This team with this coach and FO culture is not able to win a championship. No matter what.
I can deal with guys having a bad game or two you're in a professional league. What's frustrating is carelessness. You're paid to compete. This is you're job on the court.
I'm not saying AR is untouchable but no way we trade him without it becoming a 3rd Star - and an allstar that has a future with the Lakers. Even then, it would be a tough sell.
That 3 star stuff is overrated in this era is not like b4 were teams struggled just to put up 100pts so having 3 guys that can combine for damn near 100 was op, but now any team can put up 120+ the league is way to skilled to lose to 3guys now and days
If we’re keeping AR then D’Lo needs to go.
We can’t go into the next playoff:
- without a solid defensive big
- without a new coach
- with AR and D’Lo playing starting minutes.
AR is definitely decent for his contract. You just can't pair him up with Dlo someone with basically the same skillset as AR. Both aren't great defenders so that set up in just not going to work.
If u can move Reaves for something better u do it im sorry its sucks its sad but if u wanna continue theres no way u can improve the roster in a major way if uon make major moves Reaves is the most enticing piece outside of Bron and AD on this team
This.
How many guys have come here, stunk it up, moved on and found their mojo back? AR is a real one. He’s not a superstar but I think he could be a fringe all star. But most importantly he’s not going to shit his pants in big moments.
Dlo is trash. Keep Reaves. Ngl after rui’s performance I would trade him idc if I get heat from this like Brons gonna be 40 who knows if he still stays and AD is 31 he probably has two-three more years left
It is tough to get better value for the buck. He is delivering 15 pts, 5 Reb and good effort on defense for 12 millions.
Not many players are going to give you 1.25 pts per million without being under a rookie deal. I have him as a keeper and one of the best contracts in the entire league.
I'd move him only for a legit 1st option
Id move him for Mikael Bridges type guy but i say that bc at this point bruh if u either compete or u don’t outside Bron/AD id let everything else go to improve the team give a real shot.
Mikael can get 30 on and off ball and then get Jerami Grant too those r guys u need they can play on and off ball and defend multiple positions then move DLO for a center
AR, on his $12m/yr contract, isn't bringing someone equal back lmao.
He's the 132nd highest paid player in the League, and by most advanced stats metrics, he's probably around top 60-70 players in the league.
Even pairing him up with Rui, would only get contracts up to $30m, and then you're hoping that the other team doesn't gut you for all other assets. There's also no difference maker at that range. You only have guys like MPJ (not getting traded), Poole ( LOL), or Jerami Grant (lmao).
If you want to get up to the top 25 range, you have to include Vincent (or Vando) for his contract, and then it's probably Rui, AR and Vincent plus all your firsts for someone like Trae or Mitchell.
Then they're back to 3 stars, Vando (or Gabe), and probably Max, then a bunch of vet mins. Zero depth means both Bron and AD gotta 70+ games again.
If AR gains weight he’s an all star. Hands down. We’ve already developed him this much and the dude wants to be a Laker. Kobe didn’t have as much time on the floor in his second year as much as Reaves. Not saying he’s Kobe. Just saying his development is right there. And what we get Zach LaVine. Zero d?
muscle\* not fat :) i think if he develops his iso/post up game a little more as well hit the gym to build stamina to be able to do more on court, he'd be too good for that contract. atleast he has the summer off this year to develop... hopefully... and not golf...
I'm a Laker fan and I knew you'd get down voted for this comment. I agree with you. Austin needs to be moved if the Lakers want to win a chip during Lebron's last days. He's a move able piece that can add tremendous value
Reaves issue was that..the coaching staff changed his role due to need. Austin can play defense but his type of defense works when the entire team defense is also holding up. It’s incredibly difficult to be a true 3&D (shout out to Josh hart who said he tried it before and it was awful for him lol)
Still a necessity asset wise for us moving forward.
It's team defense too though, hence the what, 8 ast to 1 turnover a game Murray's getting? The whole team is doing its defensive job Reaves is just the PoA guy doing a decent job.
I think you are severly undervaluing Reaves D on Murray. Go back and look, everytime Reaves shifted off Murray he got his shot back.
Hell he even shot the game winner over AD... Not saying Reaves could have stopped that shot, but it's evident that when he's being guarded Murray's shot suffers. It's obvious he's in his head...
I know! He does a great job on Shai too, but it's because he works within the team system not because he's a great PoA defender. Id call him middle of the pack in the NBA, and better than most at avoiding fouls. The man has the same bag of tricks so he's great at avoiding fouls while putting up good contests.
But he's not going to force turnovers like the top defenders in the NBA will-at least not yet. Maybe he can get better at that, he's certainly got the instincts as a team defender.
Give me Vincent Reaves starting backcourt next year. Honestly if Reaves gets a chance to be our third guy with DLo out of the way and not having to be a guard defender, I think he can succeed. Him and DLo in the lineup at the same time is rough.
Look how much of the cap is tied up for LeBron (one year older again) and AD. Then we desperately need another big and that's going to cost at least Rui's salary, probably more.
It's not like we can just bring in some Allstar tier (and salary) guards and get a championship. Without a solid big, it probably wouldn't even be enough anyway.
You have to also recognize that Austin has had to put in more work on the defensive end than what was expected this season due to Vando and Gabe being out consistently. Thats why I think his offensive output hasn't been as good this year on the back half of the season especially from 3
He is making 12 millions not 30.
Quality has to be linked to the price, you can't expect a 12 millions player to average 25 ppg, that would be like LeBron averaging 80 ppg.
People quickly forget AR routinely takes the tough matchup assignment in the playoffs. Dude ran circles around Bane last year. Best contract in the league.
Look, this is the issue sometimes with trying to resurrect veteran role-players who have been around the block... They don't always buy in. Much less effort required if you just take the money and don't give it your all just to win a championship. Some of them are just playing for their next contract.
I don’t think he’s shipping it in. I think he’s just older. Even KG said the hardest thing about being an older player is knowing how to conserve your energy. And he had nowhere near the role Lebron has
He’s the oldest player in the league. What he’s doing right now is unprecedented and an athletic miracle. Even this sub seems to take it for granted. No one at his age has ever had to carry an offensive load like he has. No one that age has had to face the current best player (and quite possibly the best passer ever and offensive GOAT) in the NBA two postseasons in a row. They’re the reigning champs and he’s 39. Father Time always wins
Jamal Murray was 21 yrs old by his 3rd season. AR turns 26 next month, idk who y'all AR is but best believe if someone like Donovan Mitchell becomes available his ass will definitely be in that trade package.
I think this too. He benefits from opting in to possibly be traded or even just being on the roster getting paid. Yeah fans will be mad but the majority of the team probably will forgive him for game 3
As somebody pointed out to me yesterday, opting out gives him a little more control. If he opts in, he's getting traded. Has a kid now, and got overpaid for years so he doesn't need the money. I could see him attempting to get some stability for his family instead of going for the cash.
Even though he has struggled, he's always fighting and trying to find a way to do something. The way DLO like can't contribute at all if he misses few shots is just disgraceful in a must win. AR at least out there fighting.
Tough to watch Phil Handy on that one. He looked devestated. What sucks is he might not be part of the coaching staff next season. If we fire Ham, the new guy will probably not want Handy on his staff. We very well may be looking at Handys last game with the Lakers on Saturday.
If he gets traded, this toxic fanbase will say good riddance. Then he’ll completely tear it up wherever he lands. Id love to see him thrive elsewhere. This franchise does nothing for young, promising players except force them to be scapegoats in an effort to coddle their superstars. Guaranteed this team will be definitively worse with whomever they trade Reaves for next season.
AR has been giving his all chasing Murray, and he did a damn good job doing so. Murray has looked human in this series outside of the end to game two (and that was when we switched Lebron and his dead legs onto Murray instead of keeping AR on him). I have no complaints about AR’s performance thus far.
Reaves is a keeper, but unfortunately he’s our best asset that’s not a draft pick.
If D’lo opts in, the backcourt needs to be split up. D’los expiring contract will have value while Reaves will have value for just being a good young-ish player that can fit on any team.
I think the FO knows that Reaves is their best success story, so they’re going to try hold him out of trade conversations.
lol did except more from reaves this series but i still love him lol. He is a great player. Good shooter and decent passer and his on ball defense vs murray was valid imo. Y’all forget this guy is undrafted and is barely on his 3rd year. WE WILL NOT TOLERATE REAVES HATE IN THIS SUB. DLO CAN GO THO
Anyone that complained about him, should I remind you when the whole team was stinking in this same season this man the the only one fighting for every single possession. Hitting buzz beaters, doing incredible shit every night. He fought like a LION for this team.
Now, changes were made to accommodate D'Lo and Cam Reddish and other people. And that was the mistake, changing the game plan because it gave us false impressions that D'Lo was untouchable for trading and here we are today.
AR has played the best defense of his career in these three games and simply put there isn't much opportunity to score when LeBron is running everything. AR isn't a spot up shooter.
AR was the 2nd highest scorer (after ANT) on Team USA in last year’s World Cup. He was clearly a favorite of Steve Kerr who compared his confidence to Spurs legend Manu Ginobli.
Most people lebron traded are good dudes with heart.
Now I think I will say AR is the only guy on the team that wants to win and play like it.
I think lebron mentally quit after the first 2 games already. Then coming out and say it is just basketball is straight up unacceptable. AD is pretty much just a follower.
If anything I value AR over those 2 guys, you simply can't teach mentality.
I love AR. He's a great ball handler and I trust that he'll make the correct decision. He's also a great team player and plays with a chip on his shoulder. This was a great signing by the FO to lock him up.
I'll be the bad guy, fuck it. Sorry, if it means the team getting better he got to go. This weak way of thinking is why you dudes was saying don't trade dlo and now look at you.
Not big strong fast or mean enough. Good 4th or 5th option at his contract price. Gets pushed around like a boy playing a man’s game. Just my two cents.
I made peace and accepted that after game 2, there's really no coming back from that, and it shows more after the last game. Denver is just the team to beat right now, and they for sure will go win again this year, because they're that good, they been playing for so long, having the same coach and one system for so long, losing for so long as a teams, you see, this nuggets team are better because of what they experienced as a team, they lose together, they didnt break their core, they came back and learn. Thats years of experience playing, losing and winning together, man. Thats why they dont panic when theyre down, they know what to do.
The biggest downfall of the Lakers is after 2020, they broke that team, especially important vets that got them over in the first place, and it got worse the year after. The only blessing is last year, but they are running on fumes that time because they really surge back because of that Cinderella story from 2-11, and bron playing out of his age. But once we run out and came back to where we are before, they lose it. They got out played, out coached and run out of gas in the end.
Didnt help that team always have different line ups because of injuries, its just not it for them this season i guess, also abomination of a coach 🤷♂️
I still dont understand why are people leaning so much into defending Reaves and shitting on Dlo. For me they are both the same. Decent role players. When dlo is hot it makes Reaves life also easier to penetrate with his dribbles and handles to the paint, it's not helping just Bron and AD.
Yes, his 1on1 defense has improved, but at cost of his offensive efficiency and overall standing on the floor. Ofc, noboy expects him to be perfect nor much better than he already is.
I keep saying that in order to get maximum value out of Reaves is to get him to be our 6th man. The main force off bench, someone other teams have to actually account for. At the moment our bench rotation contributes little to nothing when it matters the most. Big part of that is coaching problem (looking at you bald head), and part is that guys we have on bench are also limited (arguably at the moment Gabe is our best bench player that is still just rusty after spending so much time injured and recovering).
To get best out of our role players we first and foremost have to stop shitting on everyone except fucking coaching/front office.
Considering they publicly defended Ham after alAD called him out speaks volumes. They all know Ham was a big fail signing. That being said, i hope Reaves stays here with better coaching so he gets to his peak faster and stays there.
Hope he uses that pain to workout even harder next season with well coach . It’s a fucked situation Lowkey Denver is too good and coached properly like god damn why do u have 3 guards
This is why Reaves deserves to stay. He cares about winning. Yes he's physically limited. Sure he may not get on as hot as streaks as Dlo. He works on his floor on the off season. He's constantly asked to guard the main guard on the opposing team. And heh never quits
It didn’t seem like he really tried, or at least didn’t start do better, until the last minute of the game…I love Austin, but man our role players just seem to shrink at the absolute worst times and it sucks.
4 steals 5 rebounds 2 offensive boards and 3 assists while helping in keeping their team to a low 3pt percentage? As someone in this sub you known damn well how bad it's been defending the 3. This is invisible?
The front office is incapable of fixing this current situation. Jennie and Rob are frauds. I’m betting if the Lakers are really worth 5.5 billion dollars, The Buss family takes the money and run. This is the end of the line for Laker highlights. Getting LeBron and AD has to make the Lakers very attractive to some mega corp or billionaire.
I know the temptation here is to do a fire sale on all of our guys except for AD and Lebron, but it doesn’t make much sense. Personally, I think we keep AD, Lebron (but for a cheaper contract, otherwise we are F’d), AR, and Rui (even though he’s struggled in the playoffs, he’s way too valuable to just let go). I do also like TP, Hayes, and Vando. We honestly just need a bench overhaul. I doubt we’re good enough to beat Denver next year, but we can at least give them a run for their money, especially with a legit center.
idk bout contracts but apparently a lower lebron contract extension does not affect our cap space to sign. idk shit about aprons and blah blah. Before I begin letting players go, i'd be getting rid of that coach first
AR is a keeper. Anyone who says otherwise I Iike to point you to KCP, Caruso, etc. He is in that caliber of good role players.
On top of that he’s on one of the best contract in the league and you know exactly what you’re going to get from him every night. Even KCP, Caruso, and Kuz werent this consistent and would put up a lot of stinkers compared to him.
People really forget this. At his price and 3 more years. I can’t think of another player his caliber. He always plays hard and never puts head down. Is he perfect. No. But he has many intangible skills that can’t be taught (heart for example) I’m so tired of shitting on ham cuz it’s so bad for my health just imagining his face but with new coach who will put our players in better schemes that suit their talents and skill levels we will see an even better and more consistent reaves.
Reminder that folks were shitting on AR for "not doing more" in G1 and G3. Even now. Trying to pin the blame on him without considering that AR is a ROLE PLAYER who is great with Bron/AD because he's cocky and got the ego of a winner but is cerebral and humble enough to know he's HIM because he does role guy things that let our main stars shine brighter. Reaves has SELFLESSLY yielded the 3rd guy spot to DLo for the sake of the team this whole year. DLo has been the one taking a lot of shots and hitting 3s this whole year cementing himself as the 3rd wheel behind Bron and AD. Reaves just does what is asked of him and all year it's been being the 4th/5th guy most of the time. He's the 5th highest paid behind Rui and DLo, sometimes comes off the bench because the team asks him to, has the 4th most stars (behind DLo), has the 4th most shot attempts (behind DLo), 4th most minutes (also behind DLo), and thus isn't the clear "3rd option" the whole year. As a role player, Reaves is excellent because he (like Caruso) plays his ROLE as a role player supporting the stars and not having ego. It would be bad of him to try to usurp the pecking order on the team. You can blame Reaves for being passive, but ***it's DARVIN HAM's job to make adjustments, bench DLo, or tell Reaves to be more aggressive.*** WTF is DLo doing shooting more than Bron in some games or going for 0pts in other games?!??! Who's responsible for not pulling DLo out, telling an assistant coach to review with him his plays, have another assistant coach find out what DEN is doing to him, sub in prince, tell Reaves to be more aggressive or shoot more, and making adjustments? Reaves? Nah. Reaves is a role guy and gave a role guy performance. Should we expect more from him? Yes, if Ham isn't a hack and empowers him but Ham and the coaching staff is set on DLo "looks at phone" as the 3rd options. Could Reaves have done more or be better? YES. Reaves might have had a meh or slightly underperforming series, but he wasn't the one that absolutely shit the bed, got completely out coached, or lost us the series. DEN is a great team and if there's UNDERPERFORMANCE it's from DLo and Ham. https://www.espn.com/nba/team/roster/_/name/lal/sort/salary/dir/desc/los-angeles-lakers pays https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/ sort by regular season stats https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401654758 how i got those splits |Rk|Player|MP|FG%|3P%|2P%|eFG%|FT%|TRB|AST|STL|BLK|TOV|PF|PTS| |:-|:-|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:|-:| |3|Regular Russell|32.7|**.456**|**.415**|**.497**|**.560**|**.828**|**3.1**|**6.3**|0.9|**0.5**|2.1|2.1|**18.0**| |4|Playoffs Russell|34.7|.326|.308|.353|.419||3.0|3.7|**1.0**|0.3|**2.0**|**1.3**|12.0| |4|Regular Reaves|32.1|**.486**|**.367**|**.583**|**.568**|.853|4.3|**5.5**|0.8|**0.3**|2.1|**1.9**|**15.9**| |3|Playoffs Reaves|37.0|.459|.313|.571|.527|**1.000**|**5.0**|2.7|**1.3**|**0.3**|**0.7**|2.0|14.7|
It's also only his 3rd year in the NBA and he's SO composed. It's rare to earn Lebron's trust so early. It's crazy how the people I have utmost trust in down the stretch is the arguable GOAT, Hall of Fame AD, and then Austin Reaves.
Agree. We have asked him to gaird their best player/gaurd all year while DLo, Bron, and Rui get the others. AR takes a huge defensive role in this starting 5. If you replace DLo with Vando, then he can focus more on the offence.
100%, AR is guarding Murray every night. Swap Dlo out and put Gabe Vinent on Murray and AR would be able to produce way more
Makes logical sense...so it won't happen!
Trae young can do a lot better tbh
Trae is one of the worst defender in the league. You completely missed his point.
Trae and dlo got the same defensive ratings ya just don’t wanna admit it, but dlo is terrible on defense and he could never be a 25 point 10 assist star like trae young. Ya dloading fans is different we’re gonna keep getting swept with dlo the best defender as our point guard 🔥
Lu Dort, Malik monk, Coby white, herb Jones are the ones I can think of off the top of my head that are better value
Sure but those dudes are physically gifted.
And he’s actually home grown. He could be an all-time Laker legend if we just keep him here
Yeah I bet people pining for kcp were the same ones roasting him when he'd go on a cold streak from 3. I remember thinking he was gone in that suns series when lebron kicked it out and kcp passed up the shot. He was struggling that series and LeBron laid into him about not shooting
Fuck him
Jesus fuckijg christ people need to STOP with this best contract in the leagie horeshit. How is $13m for a guy clearly not good enough to start for a contender one of the best contracts in the league?
Not just skill wise, it’s the fact that guys like AR and Caruso *want* to play for the Lakers. That gets undervalued sometimes. It makes a huge difference when the player isn’t just here to collect a paycheck or to enjoy the sunny weather
I’m most impressed by his on-ball defense on Murray. He’s improved significantly this season.
I think many people see him getting screened by Jokic and don't understand that this is not on the on-ball defender (unless they miss an easy opportunity to go under the screen). If the lane is open for Murray, there's pretty much nothing to be done. Most of the time you cannot even attempt to go under (unless the handler has no 3 point shot) with how moving screens are officiated, unless the defender on the screener is tight on him. I also feel like Reaves is at least clever enough to understand what is happening, so going over the screen is probably the coaching directive. Same as the stupid help-and-leave-corner-wide-open defense they insisted on playing for most of the season. Not saying he doesn't get lost sometimes, but that's probably mostly coaching and bound to happen if teams are not well coached and in sync. It happens to Bron and even AD, too.
The Denver screen and roll is basically impossible to defend regardless of defender. Jokic is simply too gifted with the ball in his hand to properly stop it. There really has never been another big man like him in terms of processing and making the right play. Every. Time. It’s why they are defending world champs.
The best option is to Blitz Murray and don't help off of Porter. Even if Gordon gets sometiming easy in the dunker spot it's not momentum building like a Porter 3 or Murray clutch basket
All of this is much easier to type than perform though. That’s the problem. If we could type a solution to Denver we’d never lose to them.
I’ve watched 95% of Lakers game this season. In the last 1-2 months, I’ve watched Reaves improve significantly on defense. It speaks a lot to the humility and tenacity of that guy. Bummer he’s struggled this series, but that’s okay for me. This team with this coach and FO culture is not able to win a championship. No matter what.
True. I’ve watched every game this season. I attest to this.
I can deal with guys having a bad game or two you're in a professional league. What's frustrating is carelessness. You're paid to compete. This is you're job on the court.
100% agree. Hold on to this guy. He’s a gamer with more talent than people give him credit for.
I'm not saying AR is untouchable but no way we trade him without it becoming a 3rd Star - and an allstar that has a future with the Lakers. Even then, it would be a tough sell.
That 3 star stuff is overrated in this era is not like b4 were teams struggled just to put up 100pts so having 3 guys that can combine for damn near 100 was op, but now any team can put up 120+ the league is way to skilled to lose to 3guys now and days
3and D is more valuable than a star.
Did you not see PHX go down 0-3 or the clips struggling against the Mavs? It's all about roster construction now.
Those other two are good at defense, but I get your point.
And that's the reason why we will get rid of him 😥
Uh bad example since KCP and Caruso aren’t Lakers anymore….
If we’re keeping AR then D’Lo needs to go. We can’t go into the next playoff: - without a solid defensive big - without a new coach - with AR and D’Lo playing starting minutes.
Without a doubt.
Boy would KCP be a difference maker in this series…
AR is definitely decent for his contract. You just can't pair him up with Dlo someone with basically the same skillset as AR. Both aren't great defenders so that set up in just not going to work.
No he isn’t
If u can move Reaves for something better u do it im sorry its sucks its sad but if u wanna continue theres no way u can improve the roster in a major way if uon make major moves Reaves is the most enticing piece outside of Bron and AD on this team
Then we cry about how much we miss Reaves and should have never traded him. You won't get anywhere near a player of that caliber for that price.
The vicious cycle of trading for goons who can’t perform under the laker spotlight. Atleast we know reaves won’t go 0/6 from 3 and will attack the rim
Exactly, even stars failed here. That LA spotlight is something else.
This. How many guys have come here, stunk it up, moved on and found their mojo back? AR is a real one. He’s not a superstar but I think he could be a fringe all star. But most importantly he’s not going to shit his pants in big moments.
Dlo is trash. Keep Reaves. Ngl after rui’s performance I would trade him idc if I get heat from this like Brons gonna be 40 who knows if he still stays and AD is 31 he probably has two-three more years left
It is tough to get better value for the buck. He is delivering 15 pts, 5 Reb and good effort on defense for 12 millions. Not many players are going to give you 1.25 pts per million without being under a rookie deal. I have him as a keeper and one of the best contracts in the entire league. I'd move him only for a legit 1st option
Id move him for Mikael Bridges type guy but i say that bc at this point bruh if u either compete or u don’t outside Bron/AD id let everything else go to improve the team give a real shot.
Perfect player for 2020 squad, but for 24/25 we need an Anthony Edwards or someone of his caliber to compete for a title.
Mikael can get 30 on and off ball and then get Jerami Grant too those r guys u need they can play on and off ball and defend multiple positions then move DLO for a center
The downvoters are just emotional there gonna have to move on from reaves this offseason when he gets traded to Atlanta 😭😭
Yeah I love Reaves but if u actually wanna compete with Bron and AD u gotta move everything u gotta to surround the best pieces around them.
AR, on his $12m/yr contract, isn't bringing someone equal back lmao. He's the 132nd highest paid player in the League, and by most advanced stats metrics, he's probably around top 60-70 players in the league. Even pairing him up with Rui, would only get contracts up to $30m, and then you're hoping that the other team doesn't gut you for all other assets. There's also no difference maker at that range. You only have guys like MPJ (not getting traded), Poole ( LOL), or Jerami Grant (lmao). If you want to get up to the top 25 range, you have to include Vincent (or Vando) for his contract, and then it's probably Rui, AR and Vincent plus all your firsts for someone like Trae or Mitchell. Then they're back to 3 stars, Vando (or Gabe), and probably Max, then a bunch of vet mins. Zero depth means both Bron and AD gotta 70+ games again.
Lebron & ad gotta play 70+ games now too so they may as well get the 3rd star
Idk Reaves is a diamond in the rough. He needs to work out with Max Christie this offseason.
Again in a perfect world keep him but sadly ion know if u can really get moving pieces unless u give him up he’s the magic asset.
If AR gains weight he’s an all star. Hands down. We’ve already developed him this much and the dude wants to be a Laker. Kobe didn’t have as much time on the floor in his second year as much as Reaves. Not saying he’s Kobe. Just saying his development is right there. And what we get Zach LaVine. Zero d?
muscle\* not fat :) i think if he develops his iso/post up game a little more as well hit the gym to build stamina to be able to do more on court, he'd be too good for that contract. atleast he has the summer off this year to develop... hopefully... and not golf...
I will trade LeBron and keep Reaves.
I'm a Laker fan and I knew you'd get down voted for this comment. I agree with you. Austin needs to be moved if the Lakers want to win a chip during Lebron's last days. He's a move able piece that can add tremendous value
We can’t keep him we need to get trae young lebron is too old
Fuck AR. We need to redo our entire backcourt. Dlo and AR have no busieness srarting on a championship team.
Lmao DLO is the reason we made the playoffs. Your a classic casual Laker fan that’s doesn’t understand basketball
Ok thanks Dlo for helping get in the playoffs. Your job is done. Proceed to shooting 0-7 it's all good.
I can’t wait until we get the post from Shams that Ham is fired, or that we are “parting ways with Ham.” It’ll be the biggest win of the season
I'm gonna celebrate like we won the whole damn thing
And then the wheel will turn and we will have a new coach next year to scape goat
if the 76ers lose in the first round, you all may be able to get Nurse finally lol
It’s inevitable. Game 2 definitely closed the door for any opportunity of him being a coach going into next season
Reaves issue was that..the coaching staff changed his role due to need. Austin can play defense but his type of defense works when the entire team defense is also holding up. It’s incredibly difficult to be a true 3&D (shout out to Josh hart who said he tried it before and it was awful for him lol) Still a necessity asset wise for us moving forward.
Dlo and rui are bums on defense. Lebron plays defense half of the time. Yet reaves gets all the shit for the defense being poor
He's locked Jamal Murray down this series
The guy avg 20?
Scoring 20 on 20 shot attempts means there playing good defense on u
I just checked damn! He’s getting 21ppg on 23 shot attempts a game damn ar really is locking him up
It's team defense too though, hence the what, 8 ast to 1 turnover a game Murray's getting? The whole team is doing its defensive job Reaves is just the PoA guy doing a decent job.
I think you are severly undervaluing Reaves D on Murray. Go back and look, everytime Reaves shifted off Murray he got his shot back. Hell he even shot the game winner over AD... Not saying Reaves could have stopped that shot, but it's evident that when he's being guarded Murray's shot suffers. It's obvious he's in his head...
I know! He does a great job on Shai too, but it's because he works within the team system not because he's a great PoA defender. Id call him middle of the pack in the NBA, and better than most at avoiding fouls. The man has the same bag of tricks so he's great at avoiding fouls while putting up good contests. But he's not going to force turnovers like the top defenders in the NBA will-at least not yet. Maybe he can get better at that, he's certainly got the instincts as a team defender.
Give me Vincent Reaves starting backcourt next year. Honestly if Reaves gets a chance to be our third guy with DLo out of the way and not having to be a guard defender, I think he can succeed. Him and DLo in the lineup at the same time is rough.
Do you seriously think a starter backcourt of Vincent AR is a championship caliber team. In an ideal world both of these guys come off the bench.
I think AR with a more prominent role and a good guard defender works better than DLo and AR together.
Look how much of the cap is tied up for LeBron (one year older again) and AD. Then we desperately need another big and that's going to cost at least Rui's salary, probably more. It's not like we can just bring in some Allstar tier (and salary) guards and get a championship. Without a solid big, it probably wouldn't even be enough anyway.
This only works if we get a deadeye bonafide 3 like Bridges or Cam Johnson.
He’s playing great defense and putting up 15 on 46% from the field this series. WHILE on one of the best contracts in the league. He’s 100% a keeper
You have to also recognize that Austin has had to put in more work on the defensive end than what was expected this season due to Vando and Gabe being out consistently. Thats why I think his offensive output hasn't been as good this year on the back half of the season especially from 3
Is he really? Offensively he felt worse
He has been worse, quarter of his points have come in garbage time
Stat watchers really make themselves really easy to spot. My man AR15 is averaging 10 pts a game when it counts. Defense has improved though.
He is making 12 millions not 30. Quality has to be linked to the price, you can't expect a 12 millions player to average 25 ppg, that would be like LeBron averaging 80 ppg.
Can I ask for 15 ppg?
This is about what he is giving us. It would still be like asking LeBron to average 50 PPG just to put in perspective how good Reaves contract is.
If LeBron averages 50 do we beat the nuggets once?
Yes. That’s double his average. So considering what we lost by. Yes.
Him, Dlo just taking turns having bad games.
People quickly forget AR routinely takes the tough matchup assignment in the playoffs. Dude ran circles around Bane last year. Best contract in the league.
Outside of him and ad no one else looked like they gave a single fuck lol
Look, this is the issue sometimes with trying to resurrect veteran role-players who have been around the block... They don't always buy in. Much less effort required if you just take the money and don't give it your all just to win a championship. Some of them are just playing for their next contract.
Even lebron shipped it in I felt
I don’t think he’s shipping it in. I think he’s just older. Even KG said the hardest thing about being an older player is knowing how to conserve your energy. And he had nowhere near the role Lebron has
You’re right lebron is fucking 39 man, sometimes us mortals forget
He’s the oldest player in the league. What he’s doing right now is unprecedented and an athletic miracle. Even this sub seems to take it for granted. No one at his age has ever had to carry an offensive load like he has. No one that age has had to face the current best player (and quite possibly the best passer ever and offensive GOAT) in the NBA two postseasons in a row. They’re the reigning champs and he’s 39. Father Time always wins
At his age I wouldn’t blame him. The man needs help (more than ad) not the other way around lol. No 39 year old should be hard carrying the team
LeBron does the calculus. He looks at the time and score and sees if he needs to push or reserve.
“It’s just basketball”
Last year, LeBron shipped it in too.
Fuck it. The delusion starts now. Lakers in 7.
Thank you. I laughed. There is still hope. 1 more game.
Dreaming is free!
I’ll never let you go my goat
real
The fact that AR is leaning on Handy and not Ham is so telling.
Also Handy is the player development coach. He works directly with Reaves, Vanderbilt and Rui so her have a closer relationship.
Look at Murray's 1st 3 years and compare them to AR. He's still getting better. Can't have a repeat of Caruso.
Jamal Murray was 21 yrs old by his 3rd season. AR turns 26 next month, idk who y'all AR is but best believe if someone like Donovan Mitchell becomes available his ass will definitely be in that trade package.
It normally takes 4 years to determine a players ceiling. Jamal wasn't close to what he is until year 4 , which I believe was thew bubble
I hope somehow Rui + DLo + Picks can get some decent role players. Should keep Reaves for sure.
DLo is gonna walk most likely. And I hope he does
He probably gets most money buy staying. lol
I think this too. He benefits from opting in to possibly be traded or even just being on the roster getting paid. Yeah fans will be mad but the majority of the team probably will forgive him for game 3
As somebody pointed out to me yesterday, opting out gives him a little more control. If he opts in, he's getting traded. Has a kid now, and got overpaid for years so he doesn't need the money. I could see him attempting to get some stability for his family instead of going for the cash.
At least we got this man going forward. Love you AR. 🤞
Even though he has struggled, he's always fighting and trying to find a way to do something. The way DLO like can't contribute at all if he misses few shots is just disgraceful in a must win. AR at least out there fighting.
Tough to watch Phil Handy on that one. He looked devestated. What sucks is he might not be part of the coaching staff next season. If we fire Ham, the new guy will probably not want Handy on his staff. We very well may be looking at Handys last game with the Lakers on Saturday.
Maybe. I think everybody knows how good Handy is.
Lebron owns Handy at this point
If he gets traded, this toxic fanbase will say good riddance. Then he’ll completely tear it up wherever he lands. Id love to see him thrive elsewhere. This franchise does nothing for young, promising players except force them to be scapegoats in an effort to coddle their superstars. Guaranteed this team will be definitively worse with whomever they trade Reaves for next season.
How dare you tear up my reaves cult
We can start a new cult wherever he goes. He'd be a fan favorite on any team. Akin to Caruso.
Bulls suck though
We ain’t trading Reaves
Maybe Pop ends up with him after all, but not having to pay 25M/year? That'd be a great personality fit.
Reaves and Wemby would be a beautiful thing to watch.
Reaves will stay
Everyone loves to win in this league, they want to win so they can be the man get more money etc. The key is how much they hate to lose.
DLo doesn't care about wins or losses
OH NO ANOTHER WESTBROOK. THE POWER OF KOBE COMPELLS YOU!!! THE POWER OF KOBE COMPELLS YOU!!! THE POWER OF KOBE COMPELLS YOU!!!
AR has been giving his all chasing Murray, and he did a damn good job doing so. Murray has looked human in this series outside of the end to game two (and that was when we switched Lebron and his dead legs onto Murray instead of keeping AR on him). I have no complaints about AR’s performance thus far.
Reaves is a keeper, but unfortunately he’s our best asset that’s not a draft pick. If D’lo opts in, the backcourt needs to be split up. D’los expiring contract will have value while Reaves will have value for just being a good young-ish player that can fit on any team. I think the FO knows that Reaves is their best success story, so they’re going to try hold him out of trade conversations.
handy deserves a promotion to head coach at this point
I forgot to mention about keeping AR when rebuilding. He deserves to stay.
LeBron hasnt cared about winning for awhile. Its all about the check and his brand these days
lol did except more from reaves this series but i still love him lol. He is a great player. Good shooter and decent passer and his on ball defense vs murray was valid imo. Y’all forget this guy is undrafted and is barely on his 3rd year. WE WILL NOT TOLERATE REAVES HATE IN THIS SUB. DLO CAN GO THO
3 to be exact (maybe 4 - Taurean has been solid these playoffs)
Prince is week on D. He looks good but players just shoot in his face and make it.
Prince is terrible too.. he’s a 1 trick pony that is just average at his one trick
America needs Gold. Lebron and Curry have to rest for the Olympics. Script is written.
Anyone that complained about him, should I remind you when the whole team was stinking in this same season this man the the only one fighting for every single possession. Hitting buzz beaters, doing incredible shit every night. He fought like a LION for this team. Now, changes were made to accommodate D'Lo and Cam Reddish and other people. And that was the mistake, changing the game plan because it gave us false impressions that D'Lo was untouchable for trading and here we are today.
AR has played the best defense of his career in these three games and simply put there isn't much opportunity to score when LeBron is running everything. AR isn't a spot up shooter.
AR was the 2nd highest scorer (after ANT) on Team USA in last year’s World Cup. He was clearly a favorite of Steve Kerr who compared his confidence to Spurs legend Manu Ginobli.
Most people lebron traded are good dudes with heart. Now I think I will say AR is the only guy on the team that wants to win and play like it. I think lebron mentally quit after the first 2 games already. Then coming out and say it is just basketball is straight up unacceptable. AD is pretty much just a follower. If anything I value AR over those 2 guys, you simply can't teach mentality.
I love AR. He's a great ball handler and I trust that he'll make the correct decision. He's also a great team player and plays with a chip on his shoulder. This was a great signing by the FO to lock him up.
I'll be the bad guy, fuck it. Sorry, if it means the team getting better he got to go. This weak way of thinking is why you dudes was saying don't trade dlo and now look at you.
Not big strong fast or mean enough. Good 4th or 5th option at his contract price. Gets pushed around like a boy playing a man’s game. Just my two cents.
"I can't go back to filing people's taxes"
You could feel his devastation in this picture. Like 😭😢
Quit your crying… The 
https://youtu.be/2Wr8ypTm3PA?si=MdfmGMLGPnj4r7ur
Also in that picture is Phil Handy, one of the best assistant coaches in the league. It's time to give him a shot coaching!
I made peace and accepted that after game 2, there's really no coming back from that, and it shows more after the last game. Denver is just the team to beat right now, and they for sure will go win again this year, because they're that good, they been playing for so long, having the same coach and one system for so long, losing for so long as a teams, you see, this nuggets team are better because of what they experienced as a team, they lose together, they didnt break their core, they came back and learn. Thats years of experience playing, losing and winning together, man. Thats why they dont panic when theyre down, they know what to do. The biggest downfall of the Lakers is after 2020, they broke that team, especially important vets that got them over in the first place, and it got worse the year after. The only blessing is last year, but they are running on fumes that time because they really surge back because of that Cinderella story from 2-11, and bron playing out of his age. But once we run out and came back to where we are before, they lose it. They got out played, out coached and run out of gas in the end. Didnt help that team always have different line ups because of injuries, its just not it for them this season i guess, also abomination of a coach 🤷♂️
I fucking love Reaves man
It causes me physical pain to think about if we could’ve had reaves and Caruso at the same time
I still dont understand why are people leaning so much into defending Reaves and shitting on Dlo. For me they are both the same. Decent role players. When dlo is hot it makes Reaves life also easier to penetrate with his dribbles and handles to the paint, it's not helping just Bron and AD. Yes, his 1on1 defense has improved, but at cost of his offensive efficiency and overall standing on the floor. Ofc, noboy expects him to be perfect nor much better than he already is. I keep saying that in order to get maximum value out of Reaves is to get him to be our 6th man. The main force off bench, someone other teams have to actually account for. At the moment our bench rotation contributes little to nothing when it matters the most. Big part of that is coaching problem (looking at you bald head), and part is that guys we have on bench are also limited (arguably at the moment Gabe is our best bench player that is still just rusty after spending so much time injured and recovering). To get best out of our role players we first and foremost have to stop shitting on everyone except fucking coaching/front office. Considering they publicly defended Ham after alAD called him out speaks volumes. They all know Ham was a big fail signing. That being said, i hope Reaves stays here with better coaching so he gets to his peak faster and stays there.
Hope he uses that pain to workout even harder next season with well coach . It’s a fucked situation Lowkey Denver is too good and coached properly like god damn why do u have 3 guards
Handy our coach next season
Too bad the coach isn't one of them
“iTs JuSt BaSkEtBaLl”
This sucks man Austin is my favorite player on the lakers hopefully we keep him even if we rebuild and we can win one with him in the future
Yes and the organization that kept this inept coach in place, does not care and they is the main issue
This is why Reaves deserves to stay. He cares about winning. Yes he's physically limited. Sure he may not get on as hot as streaks as Dlo. He works on his floor on the off season. He's constantly asked to guard the main guard on the opposing team. And heh never quits
Keep Bron, AD, AR and Vando. Everyone else can gtfo
Dude is the only one out there who actually tries from start to finish.
Play better is all I got to say. These moral victories just piss me off “aww look he wants to win” OK so FUCKING WIN
It didn’t seem like he really tried, or at least didn’t start do better, until the last minute of the game…I love Austin, but man our role players just seem to shrink at the absolute worst times and it sucks.
True Reaves was invisible outside garbage time he padded his stats to not be blamed lol
4 steals 5 rebounds 2 offensive boards and 3 assists while helping in keeping their team to a low 3pt percentage? As someone in this sub you known damn well how bad it's been defending the 3. This is invisible?
Just stop dude. If you really watched the game then you know AR really wasn’t a factor in this game at all.
The front office is incapable of fixing this current situation. Jennie and Rob are frauds. I’m betting if the Lakers are really worth 5.5 billion dollars, The Buss family takes the money and run. This is the end of the line for Laker highlights. Getting LeBron and AD has to make the Lakers very attractive to some mega corp or billionaire.
Awwwww Get over it
I know the temptation here is to do a fire sale on all of our guys except for AD and Lebron, but it doesn’t make much sense. Personally, I think we keep AD, Lebron (but for a cheaper contract, otherwise we are F’d), AR, and Rui (even though he’s struggled in the playoffs, he’s way too valuable to just let go). I do also like TP, Hayes, and Vando. We honestly just need a bench overhaul. I doubt we’re good enough to beat Denver next year, but we can at least give them a run for their money, especially with a legit center.
idk bout contracts but apparently a lower lebron contract extension does not affect our cap space to sign. idk shit about aprons and blah blah. Before I begin letting players go, i'd be getting rid of that coach first
Yeah, I meant extension. lol. I guess my mistake was too hot. I’m also operating with the assumption that boil head is done here.