Down by one point and with just 6.6 seconds left on the game clock, Austin Reaves shakes free from Jaden McDaniels to receive the inbounds pass from Jake LaRavia. After getting the ball above the break on the right wing, Reaves turns and faces the basket, sizing up not only his defender but the clock ticking down and all the moving parts of the possession that are about to unfold.
Five seconds, four seconds…
As Reaves puts the ball down to dribble to his left, Deandre Ayton sprints up from the paint to set a ball screen to free him up going middle. Ayton’s man, Rudy Gobert, is in a trail position, underneath the level of the ball and scurrying his way towards Reaves in an attempt to deny his drive to the left.
Reaves, noticing Gobert’s overextension towards his left hand, quickly crosses over to his right, splitting the Wolves duo with the intent of making a beeline to the rim. Right as Reaves pushes the ball down to his right, Donte DiVincenzo steps up from the backline of the defense to engage the ball, knowing that if Reaves keeps going, he can take a charge and if Reaves pulls up, he can contest the shot.
Three seconds, two seconds…
Reaves, decoding that exact same calculus in his head, simultaneously shortens his dribble and goes into his gather. Because he’s chopping his steps with the shortened dribble, his gather comes off the wrong foot, as though he is going to shoot a left-handed runner.
Instead, though, that hard plant with his right foot allows Reaves to completely reverse his momentum and instead of crashing forward into DiVincenzo, he’s able to lean slightly back and get off a fading, drifting runner over the defender’s extended contest.
One second.
The ball comes off Reaves’ hand and floats 15 feet into the air before swishing through the net right as the buzzer sounds. Reaves’ backpedal turns into a full sprint back in the other direction as he gets mobbed by his teammates from every direction while they all celebrate against the backdrop of the dispirited Minnesota crowd.
Ball game. Lakers win.
Back on July 29, 2021, 60 players’ names were called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum as draftees into the league. Cade Cunningham went No. 1 overall to the Pistons and 59 picks later, Greek forward Georgios Kalaitzakis was taken by the Pacers.
Reaves did not have his name called that night, though partly by his own doing.
Famously, he had a chance to be drafted by the Pistons with the 42nd overall pick, but Detroit, who’d taken Cunningham at the top of the draft earlier that night and Killian Hayes in the first round a year earlier, were going to draft Reaves to sign him to a two-way contract with no guarantee he’d ever get a standard deal, or further, have a pathway to actual playing time.
So, Reaves’ representation asked not to be selected by Detroit, nor by any other team before the second round concluded, and would instead try their hand as an undrafted free agent with the ability to choose the best opportunity. After identifying the Lakers and Bucks as his best chance to earn a real role, Reaves signed a two-way deal in Los Angeles and was then converted to a standard contract after training camp.
Of course, we all know what came next.
Reaves has transformed himself from role player to being on the verge of true stardom. Now in his fifth season, he’s gotten better every year to the point that his stats this year look like those of an All-Star and All-NBA player. Yes, the Lakers have only played 20 games, but what a 20 games they’ve been for Reaves:
17 games played, 28.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 51.9% from the field, 88.3% from the free throw line, 68.0% true shooting
That’s career highs in points, rebounds and assists, while posting his second-best field goal and true shooting percentages in his career. Additionally, he is doing it all while having a usage rate that, at 28.7%, is nearly five points higher than his next-highest season. In other words, his efficiency is about as good as it’s ever been while he’s using more possessions than ever.
That’s not actually how it’s supposed to work. But Reaves continues to defy all expectations for him as he develops year to year.
This sort of progression from a player had me thinking of comparative career arcs and I found myself considering a batch of players who, though their skill sets were different to Austin’s, were also put in the position to be groomed as a potential future star through the more humble beginnings as a more traditional role player.
Below are the stats of four players. The first set of stats are their cumulative averages from their first three seasons and the next set are from their fourth and fifth years…
Years 1-3:
Player A: 191 games, 8.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 42.5% field goals, 30.9% 3-point field goals, 78.1% free throws, 1 All-Defense team
Player B: 207 games, 12.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.6 steals, 49.3% field goals, 36.5% 3-point field goals, 85.5% free throws
Player C: 188 games, 10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 steals, 50.5% field goals, 37.6% 3-point field goals, 80.3% free throws, 1 All-Defense team
Player D: 206 games, 12.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, 43.1% field goals, 35.8% 3-point field goals, 79.7% free throws, 1 All-NBA team, 1 All-Defense team, 1 All-Star appearance
Years 4-5:
Player A: 132 games, 20.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.7 steals, 45.8% field goals, 34.4% 3-point field goals, 83.3% free throws, 2 All-Defense team, 2 All-Star appearances
Player B: 90 games, 21.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.1 steals, 47.3% field goals, 37.4% 3-point field goals, 87.9% free throws
Player C: 136 games, 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.0 steals, 49.4% field goals, 40.6% 3-point field goals, 84.3% free throws, 1 All-NBA team, 2 All-Defense team, 1 All-Star appearance
Player D: 86 games, 20.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 42.2% field goals, 36.6% 3-point field goals, 86.1% free throws, 1 All-NBA team, 1 All-Defense team, 1 All-Star appearance
I would say that all of these players are comparable from a stats perspective. Three of them were clearly pretty accomplished, either making an All-Defense team, an All-NBA team, an All-Star team — or all three — in both sets of these early career blocks. The fourth has not made any of those, but, again, his numbers lineup favorably.
Can you guess the players? Drumroll please….
In order of A through D, they are Jimmy Butler, Austin Reaves, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George.
I specifically looked at these three in comparison to Austin because I thought their developmental paths were all very similar in that none of them where “high” picks — Leonard and George were drafted 15th overall, Butler was 30th — and all of them were brought along slowly next to other star players who were looked to as the main offensive weapons for their respective teams.
All of them were also relied on as defensive stoppers, which is reflected in their all making an All-Defense team in their first three seasons. Reaves was never asked to be that level of defender, but he did initially earn minutes because of his commitment to defending and was, similar to those other three, placed into a defined role next to star players and asked to use a connective skill set in order to help those lineups function.
And just like those other three players, Reaves has made a huge leap offensively in his fourth and fifth seasons, ultimately becoming one of his team’s go-to options offensively and a key driver of how they function on that side of the ball while also showing an ability to downright destroy an opponent when he really gets it going.
I get that comparing Reaves to these three players seems far-fetched on its face. I also get that Reaves has only played 20 games of his fifth season so far, leaving more room for his numbers to change over the course of the rest of the season.
That said, I don’t think it’s too out of line to look at the leap he’s made in a short period of time and compare it directly to other players who, just like him, had a longer gestation period towards their respective turns toward stardom, but showed steady and consistent improvement to the point that it was no longer arguable that they were among some of the league’s best players.
Whether observers are ready to call Reaves that is up to them. We all know that some of this is subjective and people’s opinions can be influenced by any number of variables. What is not subjective, however, is the production Reaves is providing the Lakers and the pure statistical leap he’s made this season…again.
And if he keeps it up, he’ll fit right in with some of the other great players who, like him, might have started out as role players, but blossomed into the type of star whose status was undeniable.
You can follow Darius on BlueSky at@forumbluegold and find more of his Lakers coverage on theLaker Film Room Podcast.