Much of the focus following the Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for superstar guard Luka Doncic has been on how he and LeBron James will fit and play together. But the move also greatly affects the role of fourth-year guard Austin Reaves.
Reaves has seen a great increase in his responsibilities as a playmaker and creator for the Lakers this season, but much of that will now fall on Doncic thus moving him to a more off-ball role. But Reaves isn’t worried as he feels Doncic will only create more opportunities for himself and the rest of the Lakers.
“I’ve been saying this since I played Luka [Doncic] my rookie year. I told my people back home that talent-wise, he could easily go down as a top 10, top-five player ever. He does everything on the court,” Reaves said. “The way he passes the ball, scores the ball, is almost second to none. And just to create chaos for the team’s defense it’s going to give everybody on our team opportunity to make the right play. If it’s shot, if it’s attack the closeout. So can’t wait to get him healthy and see what that looks like.”
Reaves continued on, expressing his excitement at being able to play alongside both Doncic and LeBron, and what that will allow for him to do on the court.
“I don’t necessarily think you should throw me in that conversation,” Reaves added. “Just thinking about two who are unselfish basketball players that play the game the right way. Love to see their teammates have success. And I think it’s going to help me in a lot of ways to be a second-side playmaker. Create more, like I said, second side, closeout situations where I can attack the closeout and make a play on that third side, but, yeah, I can’t wait to see what that looks like on the court together. Very excited about that.”
Much like everyone else on the roster, Reaves is really looking forward to what Doncic will bring to this team and truly believes the Lakers can be special.
“Today, when he got here before the game, was the first time I’ve seen him around,” Reaves said. “And, yeah, it was kind of, it’s kind of crazy. Everybody knows how good he is, what a competitor he is. And then to team that up with arguably the greatest player ever. I think we can make something special happen.”
It will undoubtedly take some adjustments on the part of Reaves, LeBron and others. But the the ceiling for this Lakers team with Doncic has just risen and Reaves is ready for everything.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves discusses emotions following Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade
Now in his fourth season, Austin Reaves has grown close to his Lakers teammates over this time and regardless of the excitement of teaming with Luka Doncic, it was difficult for him to see Anthony Davis nd Max Christie traded away.
“Yeah, it’s been tough,” Reaves admitted. “This is the first situation that’s kind of been like a shock since I’ve been in the league. Me and DLO [D’Angelo Russell] were really good friends, are really good friends. I think you could see that one coming. Then with this after the Knicks game, everybody thought it was fake. Everybody in the world thought it was fake. So, it’s been a tough couple of days.
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