One of the few bright spots this season for the Los Angeles Lakers has been the play of Austin Reaves.
He went undrafted last summer, then signed a contract with L.A. At first, it seemed like he would be a project player who would, more likely than not, fail to pan out.
But from the start of the regular season, Reaves proved he could play with the big boys.
In his exit interview, he talked about what he has planned for the offseason.
Via Lakers Nation:
“Gonna take a little bit of time off now,” Reaves said. “But I’ll get back to work soon and take this summer real serious. Work on myself, work on my body, work on my game as well and just try to get as good as I can get.”
The 6-foot-5 guard ended the regular season with a virtuoso performance, putting up 31 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists while leading the Lakers back from a big fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets in overtime, 146-141.
Can Reaves become the Lakers’ new Alex Caruso?
As Reaves emerged as a legitimate NBA rotation player, he drew comparisons to the recently departed Alex Caruso, not just because of his skin color, but mostly because of his style of play, which is centered on hustle and effort.
The difference is that Reaves has an offensive skill-set and a visceral feel for the game that Caruso simply lacks.
From what Reaves said in his exit interview, it sounds like he wants to become a better player, especially when it comes to being a primary ball-handler and playmaker.
Via Lakers Nation:
“Yea for sure. I always want to grow and get better and continue to make strides forward and having the ball in my hands a little bit being able to make plays,” Reaves added. “But at the end of the day I realize that we got guys on the team so I do what it takes to help the team be successful. If that means be on-ball, be off-ball, those types of things like plug-and-play guy, defensive guy, whatever it is that I can do to help our team be successful is what I’ll do.”
1
1