Calling Luka Doncic a member of the Los Angeles Lakers still does not feel right, despite the team trading from him a week ago. That sentiment applies to Austin Reaves and other players as L.A. shockingly traded away Anthony Davis to complete this blockbuster deal.
General manager Rob Pelinka seemingly swindled Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison to acquire Doncic basked on the NBA community. To acquire a top-three talent for only one, unprotected first-round pick is extremely impressive.
Although the five-time All-NBA guard has yet to suit up for the Lakers, he has spent the past two games on the bench to support. For Reaves, he shared his experience meeting Doncic since the deal and it was a memorable one.
“Yeah, it was awesome,” Reaves said. “I think, still, he walked in the locker room today and was walking around dapping everybody up and I kind of like glanced up to dap him up and I was like ‘It’s Luka.’ He hasn’t been able to play yet, obviously, so it’s still very new. But I’m ready for the opportunity to get out there and compete with him. There’s a lot of things that he does really well, but I think one thing that I love most is his competitive spirit. Every time he’s on the court, he’s in kill mode. For me, it’s been a beautiful thing to watch. Since he’s gotten in the league, I’ve really enjoyed how he manipulates the game. He’s not the fastest person in the world, he’s very strong, very crafty. He gets to the free throw line, can pass as good as anybody in the league. So I’m very excited to take the court with him and see what we can do as a team.”
Now, L.A. has to figure out how to make this new partnership work with LeBron James, Doncic and Reaves all commanding the ball. However, the Arkansas native believes their playmaking will help ease any concerns when it comes to fit.
“I think at the end of the day, those guys do score a lot of points, I don’t know what Bron is averaging this year, I don’t know what Luka is averaging, but they score a lot of points,” Reaves added. “But I’m pretty sure Bron is averaging eight assists. I don’t know how many assists Luka is averaging, I would assume it’s nine or 10 maybe. So it’s not like those two guys are unwilling passers. I believe, I know, that both of those guys have a very high IQ for basketball.
“They’re gonna do whatever they think can help our team be successful and that’s all that matters at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter who gets talked about the most. It matters if we’re winning games and trying to make a run in the playoffs. So I can’t wait to figure that out. But I’m here for it. Like I said, I can’t wait and I’m gonna do whatever I can do to complement those guys and at the same time, help everybody else out and play winning basketball.”
With Doncic slatted to make his Lakers debut on Monday against the Utah Jazz, it is going to be intriguing to see how the pieces fit. However, having three unselfish passers will certainly help ease any potential growing pains.
Austin Reaves excited to see what Lakers look like with Luka Doncic
Excitement is boiling over for Luka Doncic to make his highly anticipated debut with the Lakers. That applies to the players too, as Austin Reaves is excited to see how Doncic fits in with the team.
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