Austin Reaves [has been positively electric](https://lakeshowlife.com/los-angeles-lakers-austin-reaves-first-game-without-luka-went-how-every-fan-expected) for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. His notable uptick in productivity has made it obvious that he is becoming the exact kind of star that this team wants to have playing alongside Luka Doncic.
Through the first eight games of the Lakers' season, Reaves is averaging a stunning 31.1 points per game. This prolonged stretch of high level play is indicative of the fact that Austin is not simply riding a hot streak. Rather, he's evolving and becoming an even greater player than he was before.
Lakers fans have been ecstatic to see this leap unfolding in real time. Reaves' confidence, shot creation, and ability to control the pace of the game are all pointing toward a legitimate breakout. And at the end of the day, his productivity as well as style of play look to fit alongside LA's best player like a glove.
Austin has been demonstrating his expertise in attacking closeouts, playing off the catch, and handling secondary creation responsibilities in the absence of LeBron James to begin this season. He's been getting it done so consistently and at such a high level that he looks like exactly the kind of guard who can thrive alongside a heliocentric superstar.
Reaves is reaching a new level this season
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As LeBron's career winds down, it was obvious that when thinking about the big picture, the Lakers were going to need a younger and composed a guy who could handle a lot of responsibility and big moments. Number 77 was already this franchise's new centerpiece from the moment he arrived in town, but it was also evident that he was going to need a co-star at some point.
When you watch Reaves play, he really brings a blend of poise and fearlessness that, frankly, few players possess. It's not likely that he'll ever be able to replicate the type of impact LeBron brought during his best years, but Austin's rise ensures the Lakers will be more than okay in a crowded Western Conference going forward.
The individual performances have been simply jaw-dropping to this point. Reaves has already dropped 51 and 41 points in back-to-back games against Sacramento and Portland last week. He's still yet to score under 20 points in any game this season.
That shows the kind of peaks he can reach as well as the consistency he has been playing with every night out. Should he sustain anything close to this level of performance for the rest of the season, he's going to be squarely at the [center of the Lakers' future plans](https://lakeshowlife.com/austin-reaves-leap-isnt-changing-lakers-future) for many years to come. With he and Luka Doncic as the organization's two stars, LA will be on a path to contention for another decade or more.