Last season, undrafted rookie guard Austin Reaves was perhaps the lone bright spot in an otherwise abysmal season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
He showed off a multi-faceted set of skills, as well as a fine instinctual feel for the game that cannot be taught.
So far in the Lakers’ first three preseason games, it looks like Reaves has grown, especially as a facilitator. He has made many nice passes and shown an improved ability to run the fast break.
LeBron James loves what he has seen from Reaves and gave him some high praise following L.A.’s Wednesday night tilt versus the Phoenix Suns.
“Austin can fit in any group,” James said. “A guy who plays extremely hard, plays well, doesn’t make mistakes, always in the right place at the right time. He plays extremely hard. His IQ is very high. He fits in any group, and it’s always good to be on the floor with him. I love AR.
“He’s just super-duper cool. He doesn’t do much of anything besides play ball, chill and golf. I will always be a fan of AR for the rest of his career. Hopefully, his career is a lot longer for what I got from my career. If I’m still playing, and he’s not playing, there’s a problem. But AR is great, man.”
At this stage of James’ career, a lower workload and fewer minutes per game would help ensure he remains fresh for a potential playoff run and possibly add another year to the back end of his prime. Reaves can help by pushing the ball upcourt and making plays for teammates so that James will not have to do so as often, especially during the regular season.
