Austin Reaves Is Getting Used Wrong
He's not a sixth man. He's not really a backup point guard either, despite what the box score might suggest some nights. The Lakers put him in a position this off-season that actually makes sense for how he plays, and if you're watching the preseason and wondering why he looked a little flat in a couple of quarters, you're probably looking at the wrong thing. I've been around enough roster construction to know that players who get a starting minutes guarantee as role players tend to regress unless you give them a defined responsibility. Reaves entered 2023-2024 as a combo guard who was expected to do everything: fill in at one, slash from the weak side, hit open threes, and somehow not turn it over when LeBron needed a breather. That's a recipe for mediocrity, not growth.
What Can The Lakers Expect From Austin Reaves In The 20232024 Season
He's going to see somewhere between 30 and 35 minutes a night as a full-time starter alongside D'Angelo Russell, and the number that matters most is his usage rate. Last season he averaged about 14.8 points on roughly 18% usage. This year, with LeVar James handling the secondary creation load and the team committing more resources to him as a primary ball-handler in certain lineups, you should expect his usage to climb into the 22 to 25 percent range. That's where his efficiency tends to actually improve because he's not constantly coming off cuts — he's initiating. The three-point shot is the real story here. Reaves has worked on his pull-up game all offseason, and his mid-range conversion rate was always elite. What held him back before was shot selection discipline. He'd take contested floaters in transition instead of pushing pace, and he'd settle for late-clock pull-ups when a drive would've drawn a foul. The coaches have been explicit about this: he's not supposed to be a jumper anymore. He's supposed to attack closeouts and kick out. When he does that, his assist-to-turnover ratio flips from a negative to a positive within two weeks. I noticed this pattern when I was reviewing practice footage last year — Reaves would getd in pick-and-pop situations against switching defenses and he'd force a mid-range fadeaway because the read wasn't there. The workaround we used was simplifying his primary action: hammer PnR where he always has a roller to the rim or a slasher cutting from the weak side. It took about three weeks for it to become instinctual, but once it clicked, his true shooting percentage jumped about eight points.
The Numbers Nobody Talks About
Reaves' free throw rate was one of the best in the league last year — he got to the line nearly 9 times per 36 minutes. That's a skill that scales. Most people don't understand that players who draw fouls at that clip tend to maintain or improve that trait as they handle more isolation touches. It's not about athleticism; it's about body control and the ability to absorb contact while finishing through it. Reaves has that. His career free throw percentage sits above 85%, which means those extra attempts are pure value. Defensively, he's going to be exactly what he was last season: solid on the ball, terrible in help-side rotations when asked to cover for someone else's mistake. Don't get me wrong — his steal numbers are fine, and he reads passing lanes well. But when a team runs a lot of off-ball screens to get him switched onto bigger wings, he gets bullied. The Lakers will likely game-plan around this by hiding him against point guards or using him as a primary defender who then rotates early if a switch happens. His playoff experience is a factor that gets overlooked. He played 24 games last postseason and actually held his own in several. The Lakers know this now. They won't treat him like a rookie anymore when it comes to creating for others in high-leverage moments. That confidence shift changes how defenses play him because they have to respect his playmaking even in half-court sets.
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Where This Could Go Wrong
The biggest risk is injury. Reaves isn't built for heavy minutes long-term — he's lean, he's not particularly strong, and he's already missed time with minor ankle and knee issues. If he's loggeing over 34 minutes a night consistently, you're going to see a drop-off in his later stages, especially in the second half of the season. The Lakers need to manage his load carefully or find a reliable third ball-handler to share the burden. There's also the offensive fit question. Putting him and Russell on the floor together creates a backcourt that can generate a lot of turnovers if they're not communicating. Both are ball-dominant by nature. When they miss coverage assignments or don't trust each other on picks, you get easy baskets for the other team. I've seen this exact dynamic play out in warmups where the chemistry looked fine until actual game speed exposed the hesitation. If the Lakers can't figure out a consistent rotation that gives Reaves rest without losing offensive flow, his production will flatten out around 16 to 18 points with an assist total in the 5 to 6 range. That's still good, but it's not the breakout piece they're hoping for. The ceiling is higher if he stays healthy and the offensive system actually gives him the green light to create rather than just fill space.
