The Los Angeles Lakers currently find themselves down 0-3 in their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder after dropping Game 3 at home on Saturday night. Just as in the first two games of this series, the Lakers once again found a way to keep things competitive in the first half of this game, but ultimately, Oklahoma City's superior depth and talent won out in the end.
It's been a tough series for Austin Reaves, who has been torched on the defensive end while consistently flailing and complaining for calls on offense, which continued on Saturday, when he was the target of the brunt of Ajay Mitchell's 24-point performance.
Now, basketball analyst Jason Timpf has hit the Lakers with a harsh reality as it pertains to his contract situation this summer.
“The Lakers are about to pay $150M + to Austin, and he'll deserve it. But he just got badly outplayed by the Thunder's 15th highest paid player. And that's really what makes the Thunder such a unique challenge for the rest of the league,” noted Timpf on X, formerly Twitter, referencing Mitchell's bargain contract.
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Timpf also noted that the Thunder will be adding another lottery pick to the fold this summer via the Los Angeles Clippers, which will make life even tougher for opposing teams to keep up with.
Reaves is certainly a talented offensive player, but his defensive weaknesses, as well as his well-documented reputation as a playoff dropper, have caused some to wonder if the Lakers would be better off letting him walk this summer as opposed to paying him a huge sum of money.
Reaves might only have one more chance to help the Lakers make up their minds when Game 4 of this series gets underway on Monday evening in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Lakers currently find themselves down 0-3 in their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder after dropping Game 3 at home on Saturday night. Just as in the first two games of this series, the Lakers once again found a way to keep things competitive in the first half of this game, but ultimately, Oklahoma City's superior depth and talent won out in the end.