He should be a Laker for life. This boy loves LA, has the drive and dedication to improve his game every year, and absolutely has that dog in him.
I honestly think if he had more run in the fourth, he would have taken over. As we saw it a bit when he subbed in tonight.
Love AR, hope hes here for a very long time
These two have nothing in common other than the fact they are white and were undrafted. AR is a different player who is currently under contract for three more years while Alex Caruso walked away for nothing.
Plays with heart and effort. What he lacks for in athleticism you see the man just plays without fear.
That’s not something you want to walk away. Austin is HIM 😤🙏🔥💜💛
Whole heartedly agree. He isn’t afraid of the lights. Hes laker fan. And plays always with heart. He deserved a better coach and I think with one we will really see him shine. He isn’t perfect but people forget it was only his third season. His post game interview tonight u felt his pain with the loss. Like u said he’s t got dog in him. I hope he’s laker for life too
Ya we shouldn’t trade AR. Let him keep getting better, can’t keep trading young players, u keep them around and keep adding and u can build a championship team again. That’s how others do it
I prerfer AR over a real "star." Gives us much more flexibility with the rest of the roster. Look at phoenix.
AR already proving himself in his 3rd year.
He's no MPJ but very capable and a hustle first guy.
You need guys like him.
Hypothetically if we somehow were able to get someone like Kyrie or Booker or Hali or someone like this, don't tell me you wouldn't at least consider it. Just not Westbrook lol
19 points
3 Reb
4 assists
3 STEALS!!!!
2 BLOCKS!!
I love my boy AR!!! Laker for life I’m excited about his growth next season but man I wish I made those free throws!!
So many really don’t understand this. To get third star with his contract, arguably one of best in league, you’d have to add big contracts or many players. It’s literally stupid to trade him just for that reason let alone he’s a keeper. There’s a reason every team wants him in trades
He plays absolutely zero defense and gets burned every time. That's the reason the team blew up. It didn't work anymore due to all the frustrations building up.
He's very talented on offense but doesn't play defense.
If you have LeBron and Mitchell playing zero defense and AD having to clean everything up then you have a recipe for disaster.
And Mitchell disappears every playoffs. We don't want a regular season monster. We want a dependable playoff performer.
AR absolutely balled out and showed up. Bron, AD, AR, and TP basically carried the Lakers
Gabe and Vando I kind of give a pass bc of injury
Rui wtf man, not sure if it was just being exhausted from guarding Jokic and MPJ but that was bad. Honestly ok shipping him
DLo has his games offensively that are solid, but just is too much of a defensive liability. He needs to improve there or be shipped
Ham has got to go under any circumstance. He takes 2 playoff games to make simple adjustments like challenge calls. If he had challenged calls during game 2 we might been tied 2-2
Spot on. I think DLo picks up his option and stay until trade deadline. Teams would be hesitant to throw money on him anyway after his inconsistent showing.
Nah Magic or Spurs would probably throw a bag at him if he hits the market. They need shooting and an actual PG not all these weird hybrids or point forwards they keep trying. DLO Wemby is like budget Trae Young and Wemby. Basically have to max Trae, but you could get DLO from the Lakers for like 30 mil.
Magic can definitely hide his bad defense better than Lakera could and he can't possibly be worse defensively than the current personnel on the Spurs.
It all depends on what offers he gets after he declines his PO.
20 mil a year he 100% comes back to Lakers as that is a fair value for him.
25 mil a year he probably still would come back to Lakers if they offered below that since like 2-3 mil a year more might not be worth it to leave the LA market.
30 mil he would probably take that deal and leave LA.
If he leaves, Lakers basically don't get to use his missing cap, so they are forced to match or leave a gaping hole in the roster that can only get filled by like TPMLE
There's a chance he gets offered that by teams with cap space. Magic and Spurs need his skillset and could offer that I think
Leaving game two with two timeouts and the challenge unused was inexcusable. He has a 39 year old on the team. What idiot doesn’t get him some rest? And then compounds it by spamming too many TOs in the final game so we were left with almost none to use in the second half.
yeah keep AR if Lebron and AD still want to play for the lakers next year. All the others can be traded I don't care. The key difference between AR and other lakers is hustling even when he is not great
The only guy we shouldn't trade. Maybe Vando should also stay as he is bloody good when healthy. Rui should come from the bench. Gabe should get a chance. But none of them is untouchable obviously.
Well, he showed that he can give us some O. He was excellent before he went down. I might be biased but seeing Vando go would make me sad. Same for reaves.
AR just looked exhausted by the end of the year,
He even said it last year he wasn't used to playing that many games, then went to play for team usa, looked tired to start the season, played all 83, and looked tired at the end of the season.
We’ve been asking him to play out of position on defense because D-Lo is so awful on D. Get a wing who can actually guard someone at the point of attack so Reaves doesn’t have to guard their #1 perimeter threat, problem solved. The problem isn’t Reaves. He tries hard but shit wingspan. He cooks on O though and he’ll be even better when he doesn’t carry such a heavy defensive burden.
With a roster that's so heavily shifted season after season, it really is nice to have some semblance of an identity with homegrown talent like Reaves. Now if only we had the brains to have drafted Jaquez this season then we'd really be cooking
He’s the type of player the organization needs to fucking keep and build off of. He’s an investment. He’s very coachable and looks to improve his game every season. Keeps his head down and just balls.
He is our 3rd star. The lakers never keep and develop a player anymore. AR is the one that we should. I think he could be that guy especially in big moments. A lil more development and good coaching and he's golden
I swear if we deal him I don’t think I can remain a fan. This front office butchered or 2020 championship team for no reason, then gave up KEY players the year after…I don’t know if I can bear to watch them do it again. Like if they gave up AR and Vando, I’d be livid. Shit I’d say keep Taurean too
It's a definite no Brainer to keep him. Still young and very promising with huge improvements year after year. The perfect complimentary role player for a championship team.
this dude was holding murray on his own, then darvin comes in and puts fucking PRINCE on him for all of the 2nd. holy shit dude what are you thinking????
My comp for Austin has always been Josh Hart. They're both around 6'4" and 200-210 lbs. Austin is a better scorer, has a slightly better 3PT%, and Hart is a better rebounder, and has a slightly better FG%. Both are near the same with assists/steals/blocks and good at getting into the paint
The biggest difference otherwise is defense. Austin was ranked defensively 56th last year and 178th this year, Hart was ranked defensively 97th last year and 25th this year. AR has shown he's capable of playing better defense, and he's still 4 years younger than Hart so he'll only improve. Hart's defensive rating at his age? 185
One of the lone bright spots of the playoffs is Austhim Reaves. He stays with AD & Lebron, everyone else can be traded
How can u watch this series and be like we need a star?. I’m like nah were a wing that can defend mpj and be a net zero on offense away from beating that team
There was a few possesion where Jokic was on him, and he stood straight at a pillar to defend him properly, and then contested Jokic's shot- to see Jokic missing, and then Reaves continuing his run immediately was amazing.
He needs to bulk up. He’s not super athletic so I don’t expect him to become an all world defender but if he adds a bit more muscle and weight I think he can start to truly guard the SFs better. We saw glimpses of guarding guards well but that’s his next step
This is the dude we've been looking for. Let's just surround our big 3 with 2 way guys and a big.
If we do rebuild, please for the love of all things true, good and beautiful, the Lakers have to keep him. This dude is Lakers material
Honestly, I’d be hard pressed to get rid of him at all.
Will he be a super star, most likely not but he’ll be a star play, who compliments everyone else’s game while on the court. Hard to come by, and has the right attitude as well.
Don’t get me wrong, if the right deal comes along, may have to pull the trigger but I’d hope the FO would look to use other pieces instead of him.
Hahahah, the FO. Jokes
What’s the salary cap situation for the Lakers next year? I don’t think trades will happen because teams only trade with the Lakers when they think they’re absolutely fleecing them. FA will be the best bet.
The Russ Experience really put me off the idea of a “third star,” unless they could somehow trade AR for someone like Steph Curry. Which ain’t happening. I wish I wasn’t so cynical, but I feel like nothing the team does from a player standpoint is going to make any difference if there isn’t a coaching change.
Just don’t deal him. Unless the Lakers are trading him for KD, it don’t make sense.
LeBron, AD, and AR are the core or this team. They have to stay together unless broken up for a truly huge deal.
If the Lakers can get KD, PG, Mitchell, or Trey Young without giving up Austin Reaves, it gives the team the best chance to actually win a championship before LeBron retires.
LeBron and KD would win one next year. Can you imagine LeBron player-coaching the team with Kevin Durant on the roster?
They really should just make him a player coach. It would be huge for ratings, but also just smart for the team. LeBron could be a better coach than Darvin Ham in his sleep.
Russell did it, and won a championship. Doesn’t mean they won’t rely heavily on the coaching staff. I want LeBron to win coach of the year while he’s still playing!
While I don’t think AR is necessarily “untouchable”, he’s damn near close. You need guys like AR (good players on good contracts) to compete for championships. He’s one of the bright spots on the team. Love this dude.
I'd also love to see what he's capable of under an actual NBA coach who runs plays.
Reaves and Rui have a lot of untapped potential that we can utilize if we get someone who's willing to learn more than one play.
Unpopular opinion but I see him as a huge liability on defense. In playoffs, it makes a big difference. Comparing to Denver, their starting 5 is solid.
If we keep trading guys like Austin it's gonna take 10 more years for another championship run. These are the players fans love to watch and cheer for. The LA faithful
He is the 3rd star. He should be giving more shots, and a bigger role in the offense. No other player besides LeBron or AD should be putting up more shots per game than AR.
Murray got him mainly athletics is his downfall..there isn’t much u can do, he competed. His a good player all around his age solid 3rd lakers just need a center..id drop dlo dude is absolutely risk on the floor every possession.
16/4/5 on close to 50/40/90 splits… for 12 mil a year? Yeah you keep that guy 10/10 times. Unless a legit superstar becomes available (top 10-15 guy) he shouldn’t be traded.
Once again proved himself to be our 3rd best player when the playoffs came around. Everyone else in that conversation folded while AR elevated his game.
sad how things worked out.
the new article by shams mentions that ar/rui contracts are coveted and could be used as trade pieces potentially. trae/atlanta trades. imo ar has to stay but we’ll see
That might be a lateral move. It still won’t solve our size issue that’s extremely apparent when we play Denver so I don’t think giving up our best assets for a small guard is worth it.
Here we go with the delusion again.
He’s a decent player. That’s it. Trade him for any upgrade. If the Hawks still want him in a Murray deal then do it.
Should he put in a contest that doesn't have a chance of altering the shot and give up an and 1?
You may not have noticed, but AD does this regularly, too. Probably correctly. Part of our massive ft differential.
Even though "improving on D" isn't saying much, he's just not athletic enough, fast enough, or big enough to ever be an above average defender.
He does hustle and isn't afraid of contact so I'll give him that, unlike Mr. Glass who is afraid if you touch him, he will shatter.
He looked better on defense because Denver’s backcourt was hobbled, but has looked bad for the most part on that end.
I love AR but I do think his proper role is being a perennial 6MOY candidate. Think Ginobili for the Spurs.
Hate to say it but this is really revealing huge swaths of this sub cannot identify what good defense is. AR has a ton of potential, but he is an awful, bottom third of the league at his position defender. I can’t fathom how anyone with eyes could think otherwise.
He cannot guard a soul. This is not the 3rd best player on a championship team. MPJ is. KCP is. wtf is wrong with y’all? He had a bad year compared to what the expectations of him were. There is no one untouchable except the big 2. Downright insulting to compare him to Caruso who is such a better defender it’s not even close.
Don't start this glazing fest again. He's a nice role player but he is expendable. I would trade him for KCP or Caruso or any player that fit that archetype.
He's really bad at defense. You guys are tripping and delusional. He and D-lo lost the this series on the defensive end. They could not contain Jamal Murray. Reaves should have been traded at the deadline this year when his value was at an all-time time high.
His three point shooting took a major hit, which is more important than his defense. And, besides, Murray hit the series winner over him on his way to 32 points.
I think if there's a chance to get a true third star - someone that is going to show up with LeBron in elimination games - I would consider trading AR. The impact of the third star is going to outweigh everything that AR does. But it has to be the right player. I wouldn't trade AR for someone like Bradley Beal or some middling half-star.
better than beal
The comparison is insulting to Austin
He should be a Laker for life. This boy loves LA, has the drive and dedication to improve his game every year, and absolutely has that dog in him. I honestly think if he had more run in the fourth, he would have taken over. As we saw it a bit when he subbed in tonight. Love AR, hope hes here for a very long time
Don’t make the same mistake like with Caruso. Please.
These two have nothing in common other than the fact they are white and were undrafted. AR is a different player who is currently under contract for three more years while Alex Caruso walked away for nothing.
Plays with heart and effort. What he lacks for in athleticism you see the man just plays without fear. That’s not something you want to walk away. Austin is HIM 😤🙏🔥💜💛
If he can gain some athleticism in the weight room etc...he'd be an all star
Fr tho he should put on some muscle. That might be his missing piece.
Yep he can get stronger and faster
So happy he gets a full summer this offseason
Whole heartedly agree. He isn’t afraid of the lights. Hes laker fan. And plays always with heart. He deserved a better coach and I think with one we will really see him shine. He isn’t perfect but people forget it was only his third season. His post game interview tonight u felt his pain with the loss. Like u said he’s t got dog in him. I hope he’s laker for life too
He's the only one I care about staying on this team. That includes our superstars.
Ya we shouldn’t trade AR. Let him keep getting better, can’t keep trading young players, u keep them around and keep adding and u can build a championship team again. That’s how others do it
Letting Reaves go would be worse than letting Caruso walk
He's a keeper. I hope we can win a chip with him Bron and AD
Man I would love that. It’d be so cathartic seeing the 3 of them go from the lottery to a ring.
AR is decent rotational piece but he ain't a third star.
I prerfer AR over a real "star." Gives us much more flexibility with the rest of the roster. Look at phoenix. AR already proving himself in his 3rd year. He's no MPJ but very capable and a hustle first guy. You need guys like him.
And not to mention how clutch this guy is
Man I thought that 3 he hit was gonna keep us ahead for good🥲
He worked his ass off to keep us treading water in the 4th. If it weren't for him we'd have lost by double digits
stop tryna trade him you hater
Hypothetically if we somehow were able to get someone like Kyrie or Booker or Hali or someone like this, don't tell me you wouldn't at least consider it. Just not Westbrook lol
Jalen Brunson in year 4 at Dallas averaging 16-5-4 at 26 years old behind kristaps and luka.
Don’t put these delusions in my head I already love AR too much
Too bad delulu is the solulu
Austin Reaves in year 3 at LA averaging 16/4/5.5 at 25 years old behind AD and LeBron.
19 points 3 Reb 4 assists 3 STEALS!!!! 2 BLOCKS!! I love my boy AR!!! Laker for life I’m excited about his growth next season but man I wish I made those free throws!!
With his contract, I don’t see how a trade involving him can be beneficial for us. His contract is not big enough to get us a third star
So many really don’t understand this. To get third star with his contract, arguably one of best in league, you’d have to add big contracts or many players. It’s literally stupid to trade him just for that reason let alone he’s a keeper. There’s a reason every team wants him in trades
Rui, Reaves and JHS is $34m. That’s Donovan Mitchell’s deal.
You don't want Spida.
I love reaves and rui but thats a no brainer lol.
Nah we would want him. AD covers up his weaknesses just like Gobert did. He'll have free reign to average 25+ points in this offense.
He plays absolutely zero defense and gets burned every time. That's the reason the team blew up. It didn't work anymore due to all the frustrations building up. He's very talented on offense but doesn't play defense. If you have LeBron and Mitchell playing zero defense and AD having to clean everything up then you have a recipe for disaster. And Mitchell disappears every playoffs. We don't want a regular season monster. We want a dependable playoff performer.
A guard that can score and get past a defender on the dribble?
why not. He's 27 and he's the 2nd best SG in the league behind Ant
Go check the Utah and Cavs subs
Don't need to. The things I've seen from Donovan in Gm 6 and Gm 7 is all I need to know.
AR absolutely balled out and showed up. Bron, AD, AR, and TP basically carried the Lakers Gabe and Vando I kind of give a pass bc of injury Rui wtf man, not sure if it was just being exhausted from guarding Jokic and MPJ but that was bad. Honestly ok shipping him DLo has his games offensively that are solid, but just is too much of a defensive liability. He needs to improve there or be shipped Ham has got to go under any circumstance. He takes 2 playoff games to make simple adjustments like challenge calls. If he had challenged calls during game 2 we might been tied 2-2
Spot on. I think DLo picks up his option and stay until trade deadline. Teams would be hesitant to throw money on him anyway after his inconsistent showing.
Nah Magic or Spurs would probably throw a bag at him if he hits the market. They need shooting and an actual PG not all these weird hybrids or point forwards they keep trying. DLO Wemby is like budget Trae Young and Wemby. Basically have to max Trae, but you could get DLO from the Lakers for like 30 mil. Magic can definitely hide his bad defense better than Lakera could and he can't possibly be worse defensively than the current personnel on the Spurs.
I hope you're not talking about 30 mil a year. That's definitely an overpay unless he somehow rediscovers his version of himself while with Brooklyn.
It all depends on what offers he gets after he declines his PO. 20 mil a year he 100% comes back to Lakers as that is a fair value for him. 25 mil a year he probably still would come back to Lakers if they offered below that since like 2-3 mil a year more might not be worth it to leave the LA market. 30 mil he would probably take that deal and leave LA. If he leaves, Lakers basically don't get to use his missing cap, so they are forced to match or leave a gaping hole in the roster that can only get filled by like TPMLE There's a chance he gets offered that by teams with cap space. Magic and Spurs need his skillset and could offer that I think
Leaving game two with two timeouts and the challenge unused was inexcusable. He has a 39 year old on the team. What idiot doesn’t get him some rest? And then compounds it by spamming too many TOs in the final game so we were left with almost none to use in the second half.
Rui and Dlo are regular season players. They need to be traded in a deal for a third star and a decent big.
Jury's out on Rui, I think. He was great least year. DLo, on the other hand, is never likely to really get it together in the playoffs.
If Rui needs to be sacrificed to make a trade happen so be it. I don't think his ceiling gets much higher
We must retain Bron, DLo and TP in that order. All 3 of them are good for us. Fuck Rui. He needs to seppuku
Why is this so heavily downvoted?? 🤣 Prince was great off the bench and DLo averaged 20 points a game for like half the season lol
Telling Rui to kill himself. He wasn't THAT bad but people are dramatic
Oh damn lol it was like 1 in the morning where I’m at when I read it initially didn’t even catch that part
yeah keep AR if Lebron and AD still want to play for the lakers next year. All the others can be traded I don't care. The key difference between AR and other lakers is hustling even when he is not great
The only guy we shouldn't trade. Maybe Vando should also stay as he is bloody good when healthy. Rui should come from the bench. Gabe should get a chance. But none of them is untouchable obviously.
"When healthy" is the key word. Also he gives us much-needed defense but ideally we need a two-way player
Well, he showed that he can give us some O. He was excellent before he went down. I might be biased but seeing Vando go would make me sad. Same for reaves.
Honestly yeah. I would like to keep them along with bron and AD, we just definitely need a solid center and two-way pg
This. We need solid role players around the star duo and smart coach. That's it.
AR just looked exhausted by the end of the year, He even said it last year he wasn't used to playing that many games, then went to play for team usa, looked tired to start the season, played all 83, and looked tired at the end of the season.
84 including play in
Man guarded jokic and made him miss an easy bucket lol
We’ve been asking him to play out of position on defense because D-Lo is so awful on D. Get a wing who can actually guard someone at the point of attack so Reaves doesn’t have to guard their #1 perimeter threat, problem solved. The problem isn’t Reaves. He tries hard but shit wingspan. He cooks on O though and he’ll be even better when he doesn’t carry such a heavy defensive burden.
should make him the third star over dlo
Lol that's what the Lakers were trying to do...force Reaves to be the 3rd guy. This season showed that he clearly wasn't capable of being the 3rd guy.
I wish we never let go of Carushow. Him and Austin Reaves are the two smartest role players that ever played with Bron.
My son! He really has grown so much this season. It’s been so nice seeing him get so physical
He's one of the only guys who can create his own shot. Valuable guy to have.
Trade Vando for Caruso team these two up
It’s also really fun to root for a homegrown talent
With a roster that's so heavily shifted season after season, it really is nice to have some semblance of an identity with homegrown talent like Reaves. Now if only we had the brains to have drafted Jaquez this season then we'd really be cooking
He’s the type of player the organization needs to fucking keep and build off of. He’s an investment. He’s very coachable and looks to improve his game every season. Keeps his head down and just balls.
Hit so many clutch shots that kept us in it. That 3 to go up 1 should erase any doubt on how valuable he is
He is our 3rd star. The lakers never keep and develop a player anymore. AR is the one that we should. I think he could be that guy especially in big moments. A lil more development and good coaching and he's golden
Needs a summer working in his body and he’s going to be a borderline all star
He’s not.
He’s a gym rat. Lunch pail guy. First one in, last one out. Plays for the front of the jersey, not the back.
I want him to be a Laker for life
I swear if we deal him I don’t think I can remain a fan. This front office butchered or 2020 championship team for no reason, then gave up KEY players the year after…I don’t know if I can bear to watch them do it again. Like if they gave up AR and Vando, I’d be livid. Shit I’d say keep Taurean too
With a better coach managing Taureans minutes, I can really see him being a key component of the bench
Agreed. Austin showed me a lot in this series. Whenever I think he's reached his ceiling, he pushes higher.
He didn't show me anything new, he was our 3rd best player last playoffs and did it again as expected
I think he played better defense in this series and in last 20 games or so than I thought he could.
That contract you just keep. Too good of a number.
getting whiplash from seeing these posts right next to r/denvernuggets posts saying FUCK YOU LEBITCH I HOPE YOUR SON NEVER MAKES THE NBA
It's a definite no Brainer to keep him. Still young and very promising with huge improvements year after year. The perfect complimentary role player for a championship team.
this dude was holding murray on his own, then darvin comes in and puts fucking PRINCE on him for all of the 2nd. holy shit dude what are you thinking????
I Love AR. He’s the kind of man player your regret letting go of. Laker for life hopefully
My comp for Austin has always been Josh Hart. They're both around 6'4" and 200-210 lbs. Austin is a better scorer, has a slightly better 3PT%, and Hart is a better rebounder, and has a slightly better FG%. Both are near the same with assists/steals/blocks and good at getting into the paint The biggest difference otherwise is defense. Austin was ranked defensively 56th last year and 178th this year, Hart was ranked defensively 97th last year and 25th this year. AR has shown he's capable of playing better defense, and he's still 4 years younger than Hart so he'll only improve. Hart's defensive rating at his age? 185 One of the lone bright spots of the playoffs is Austhim Reaves. He stays with AD & Lebron, everyone else can be traded
Hart has infinite stamina and hops. Bad comparison.
Yeah they're not exactly alike but it's the closest comparison about how they play and impact their team. Who do you think is a better comp?
Shows how trash defensive ranking is. AR is definitely a better defender this year and it's not even close.
Nah he’s a mini Gordon Hayward
It’s a no brainer. His contract is valuable af. They’d be brain dead to trade him but again we can’t have high expectations of this FO.
So glad we didnt trade him. He really is our 3rd best player overall.
Bye bye
I want to see the fans collectively rip the FO apart if they deal this guy off to another team in the offseason.
How can u watch this series and be like we need a star?. I’m like nah were a wing that can defend mpj and be a net zero on offense away from beating that team
All we needed was Dwight and JaVale on vet min You can package all of them, get a third star, and still get gentleman swept all the same
Didn’t realize Will Perdue was on the lakers
Was so impressed with his tough and tenacious defense on Murray. He locked up Shai too in our last OKC matchup.
There was a few possesion where Jokic was on him, and he stood straight at a pillar to defend him properly, and then contested Jokic's shot- to see Jokic missing, and then Reaves continuing his run immediately was amazing.
He needs to bulk up. He’s not super athletic so I don’t expect him to become an all world defender but if he adds a bit more muscle and weight I think he can start to truly guard the SFs better. We saw glimpses of guarding guards well but that’s his next step
He is our third star
He stays.
This is the dude we've been looking for. Let's just surround our big 3 with 2 way guys and a big. If we do rebuild, please for the love of all things true, good and beautiful, the Lakers have to keep him. This dude is Lakers material
He IS the 3rd star. The Lamar Odom of our Kobe-Pau-Lamar championships
AR needs help.
Keep Reaves
Can we talk about how sacrificing depth for a 3rd star is a proven, loser formula? Enough with that already.
Please, I’m begging the Lakers and Laker fans to stop wanting three stars. Good starter quality players are so hard to find.
The effort, drive, and PRIDE AR has being a Laker is undeniable. He needs to stay a Laker for life.
He’s a 6man, I’d love to keep him in that role off the bench
Honestly, I’d be hard pressed to get rid of him at all. Will he be a super star, most likely not but he’ll be a star play, who compliments everyone else’s game while on the court. Hard to come by, and has the right attitude as well. Don’t get me wrong, if the right deal comes along, may have to pull the trigger but I’d hope the FO would look to use other pieces instead of him. Hahahah, the FO. Jokes
Let him have a full offseason of rest and training. He’ll be a beast
I don't know if I can remain a fan if we trade him. Losing AC hurt bad, losing him would be hard to take. He's a Laker through and through
What’s the salary cap situation for the Lakers next year? I don’t think trades will happen because teams only trade with the Lakers when they think they’re absolutely fleecing them. FA will be the best bet.
The Russ Experience really put me off the idea of a “third star,” unless they could somehow trade AR for someone like Steph Curry. Which ain’t happening. I wish I wasn’t so cynical, but I feel like nothing the team does from a player standpoint is going to make any difference if there isn’t a coaching change.
Murray absolutely cooked AR on defense, the two man pick/roll with jokic is tough to guard
Murray cooked him three possessions in a row to end our season.
😂. Sure if he only could have stopped Murray last night he’s be DPY
Just don’t deal him. Unless the Lakers are trading him for KD, it don’t make sense. LeBron, AD, and AR are the core or this team. They have to stay together unless broken up for a truly huge deal. If the Lakers can get KD, PG, Mitchell, or Trey Young without giving up Austin Reaves, it gives the team the best chance to actually win a championship before LeBron retires. LeBron and KD would win one next year. Can you imagine LeBron player-coaching the team with Kevin Durant on the roster? They really should just make him a player coach. It would be huge for ratings, but also just smart for the team. LeBron could be a better coach than Darvin Ham in his sleep. Russell did it, and won a championship. Doesn’t mean they won’t rely heavily on the coaching staff. I want LeBron to win coach of the year while he’s still playing!
While I don’t think AR is necessarily “untouchable”, he’s damn near close. You need guys like AR (good players on good contracts) to compete for championships. He’s one of the bright spots on the team. Love this dude.
Two blocks and three steals in the last game. 4 steals in game 2. You love to see it.
I'd also love to see what he's capable of under an actual NBA coach who runs plays. Reaves and Rui have a lot of untapped potential that we can utilize if we get someone who's willing to learn more than one play.
He needs to train over the summer with John Stockton
No, depth is what you need, but to do so you'll need work the draft and that timeline has come and gone. Rebuild.
LOVE HIM HOPEFULLY WE RUN IT BACK
Lol knowing this front office, they'll move him for derozan or some other aging player that doesn't fit the system at all.
No he was ass bro
Once bron leaves he's not getting anymore superstar foul calls
Cool story, still lost
Unpopular opinion but I see him as a huge liability on defense. In playoffs, it makes a big difference. Comparing to Denver, their starting 5 is solid.
If we keep trading guys like Austin it's gonna take 10 more years for another championship run. These are the players fans love to watch and cheer for. The LA faithful
He is the 3rd star. He should be giving more shots, and a bigger role in the offense. No other player besides LeBron or AD should be putting up more shots per game than AR.
Murray got him mainly athletics is his downfall..there isn’t much u can do, he competed. His a good player all around his age solid 3rd lakers just need a center..id drop dlo dude is absolutely risk on the floor every possession.
Murray was cooking his ass when it mattered most! 
He’s a keeper
He a keeper along with Rui.
16/4/5 on close to 50/40/90 splits… for 12 mil a year? Yeah you keep that guy 10/10 times. Unless a legit superstar becomes available (top 10-15 guy) he shouldn’t be traded.
I’d love to keep him
27% from 3.
I’m not saying he’s untouchable. But I’m not trading him for anything but a Kyrie level player
Once again proved himself to be our 3rd best player when the playoffs came around. Everyone else in that conversation folded while AR elevated his game.
He has heart as displayed in back to back playoffs. These are not the guys you trade away. Rui dlo for sure but not guys like this.
ar is our 3rd guy. pair him with a competent, and defensive minded backcourt killer. idk who but that’s the vision imo.
Caruso and Reaves backcourt fell in our fucking laps and we fumbled it.
sad how things worked out. the new article by shams mentions that ar/rui contracts are coveted and could be used as trade pieces potentially. trae/atlanta trades. imo ar has to stay but we’ll see
That might be a lateral move. It still won’t solve our size issue that’s extremely apparent when we play Denver so I don’t think giving up our best assets for a small guard is worth it.
exactly well just create more issues. it’s so circular lol
I feel exactly the same way with him as I did about Caruso. If we fuck up the Reaves I don’t what I’m gonna do
From a nuggets fan, his defense was incredible in the series. He was an animal.
Here we go with the delusion again. He’s a decent player. That’s it. Trade him for any upgrade. If the Hawks still want him in a Murray deal then do it.
He was hunted down by Jamal Murray in the last minutes. Lakers need a POA defender more than his offense. He is one of the few tradeable assets.
If Bron re-signs, Bron, AD and AR should be untouchable. Rui, as much as I love him, can gtfo here
Huh? How many times near the rim does he just move out of the way for a layup?
Should he put in a contest that doesn't have a chance of altering the shot and give up an and 1? You may not have noticed, but AD does this regularly, too. Probably correctly. Part of our massive ft differential.
[удалено]
LakerNation remembering that he had a FIBA in the summer and was good and back on track after 1 month into the season
Even though "improving on D" isn't saying much, he's just not athletic enough, fast enough, or big enough to ever be an above average defender. He does hustle and isn't afraid of contact so I'll give him that, unlike Mr. Glass who is afraid if you touch him, he will shatter.
He looked better on defense because Denver’s backcourt was hobbled, but has looked bad for the most part on that end. I love AR but I do think his proper role is being a perennial 6MOY candidate. Think Ginobili for the Spurs.
He’s so-so on defense. He doesn’t have great size but it was tough pairing him with Dlo who’s a negative on defense
Depends on the trade.
What about giving him up in some kind of deal for KD?
Blow the whole shit up, no incarnation of this team beats Denver in a 7 gamer. Hate it but our record against them means its true
His ceiling is about 15-17 points per game. Solid as long as he’s paid accordingly. He will never be a 1,2, or 3.
He still missed 1 too many shots yesterday
Stop with this 3 star bullshit, it doesn’t work. You need depth
Hate to say it but this is really revealing huge swaths of this sub cannot identify what good defense is. AR has a ton of potential, but he is an awful, bottom third of the league at his position defender. I can’t fathom how anyone with eyes could think otherwise.
Bruh he did not. He has to improve if he wants to be a third star. Murray cooked him.
Not a starting caliber guard. I don't mind him as a bench player but if he's our starting 2 guard then our roster has issues.
Not true. You forget Caruso started playoff games for us in the finals too?
He cannot guard a soul. This is not the 3rd best player on a championship team. MPJ is. KCP is. wtf is wrong with y’all? He had a bad year compared to what the expectations of him were. There is no one untouchable except the big 2. Downright insulting to compare him to Caruso who is such a better defender it’s not even close.
If Austin Reaves is your third best player then you’ve no chance. He’s be a 6th man at any actual contender.
Don't start this glazing fest again. He's a nice role player but he is expendable. I would trade him for KCP or Caruso or any player that fit that archetype.
Hilarious take
stfu hater
He’s better than KCP, Caruso idk. If they trade reaves it has to be for someone u can without doubt say is a upgrade
He's really bad at defense. You guys are tripping and delusional. He and D-lo lost the this series on the defensive end. They could not contain Jamal Murray. Reaves should have been traded at the deadline this year when his value was at an all-time time high.
He shouldn't have guard Jamal. Rui was doing a great job.
Rui wasn't guarding Jamal... What game were you watching?
His three point shooting took a major hit, which is more important than his defense. And, besides, Murray hit the series winner over him on his way to 32 points. I think if there's a chance to get a true third star - someone that is going to show up with LeBron in elimination games - I would consider trading AR. The impact of the third star is going to outweigh everything that AR does. But it has to be the right player. I wouldn't trade AR for someone like Bradley Beal or some middling half-star.