Austin Reaves Discussion: How Much Is He Worth?

You can’t take a hot streak and extrapolate it out. It’s just doing a disservice to Reaves. The expectations have swung that he is now a top 15 player in the league and I just don’t think that’s necessary or helpful.

Guy is a heck of a player doing amazing things. The fact that he can lead when 100m of payroll is out is outstanding. I have faith he can become a second offensive option.

To make AR and Luka work we need a center that can defend well, both as a rim protector and on switches - which Ayton is doing a good job of. Offensively we need a big that can excel in the pick and roll and Ayton has been shown to be pretty efficient. If we can get a backup that provides similar defensive protection with the ability to jump out the gym for vertical spacing, we’d be golden.

Then you just surround the guys with 3&D players. That’s championship.

 

Amazing

The top list is all Lakers

 

Can we sign him to a max or near-max extension before he hits free agency?

 

Nobody's extrapolating that he's going to go 34 & 10 over the entire season. But he already showed that he can go 26 & 7 or better for a significant part of the season (20%) as a 2nd option last season, and he's improved since then. The likely answer is somewhere in between, which is still ridiculous, like 28 & 8 or better. Won't be enough shots when all of the Big 3 are healthy and playing, which I prefer, but when a 2nd option or better, this is not extrapolation, it's what has happened on the court for a quarter of a season.

He may not be a top 15 player overall due to defense, but purely offensively, what number/range do you put him at? Top 15 offensively does not seem absurd.

Fully agree with all of this.

 

Many, or even most, of those comparisons are simply statistical facts, because what he is doing is in historical company. It's not saying that he equals or will equal those players. You are right, though, that some of the comparisons are simply people's opinions and projections, including my own. However, the opposite is also true. To say that he can only be a 3rd option and would not keep performing at 1st option levels if given the chance, is also an opinion and projection, and it is less supported than the opposite.

We will, but it's not required to reserve all judgment until then. We can still cheer him and the team on, and form opinions and analyze things along the way, and the way it's looking, the future is bright.

 

You wouldn’t do that for team building’s sake.
His cap hold is $20 million.
You agree to terms on his massive new contract, don’t sign him until AFTER you sign the rest of your contracts so you can use all of the cap room and then officially sign him last.
If you sign him first at say $39 mill per season, all of that cap room goes away before you are able to sign the rest of your new guys.

 

^^ THIS

 

Incredible shot. Minny hounded him all night. His shot was off, pivoted to Nash'ing the hell out of the ball. But when it was on the line, went into HIM mode.

Austin's agent went from Jerry Maguire to now he's entering Rihanna stages with Rob

Spoiler: NSFW

Money wise, listened to Buha today and he thinks Austin will get $37-$40m range. A $200m+ contract would not surprise him.

 

Couple things: I don't know why I can't respond to the post that I want to quote. Strange. I think it's just me.


"He thinks Austin is just a guy chasing stats who can't lead the team to W's.

(And mocks him declining a $20m/yr extension.)."

He’s led the team to wins without Luka and LBJ, and he’s been impressive. Very impressive. He’s doing it in different ways, too — the growth is undeniable. I’ll admit it: through the first five games, he’s making me eat my words. And honestly, I’m glad he is. I want to see the Lakers succeed, and if he’s part of that success, that’s a win for everyone.

Now we’re getting into the mocking part, like — who cares if I’m mocking him? You’d think I insulted a family member the way some of y’all are reacting. You’re lobbying for him harder than his agent, my dude.

We’re 2–1 without Luka, we’re winning most of these games, and yeah, I might’ve been reaching a bit with the stat talk. But let’s be real — if he wasn’t chasing the money, he wouldn’t have declined that extension. And he should chase it. This is probably the biggest deal he’ll ever get — he’ll be 30 when the next one comes around.

I just don’t want to be the one paying him that deal. But knowing how things go, we probably will. If that’s the case, I hope he’s part of a package for a max-level guy — or we find a way to pair him with two max players.

Then we’re really cooking.

 

Cool. Just hope it's structured in a way to add another Max or high impact guy or we're f*****. Period.

 

Lol.."Pops" still isn't convinced.

 

This is good. Water under the bridge now.

Nobody cares if you're mocking him, as in personal feelings are hurt or something. I used the phrase to mean that you didn't seem to think he should have turned down $20m/yr and you seemed to be making fun of that, even though he's worth way way more than that. Whether it's $30, 35, or 40, it'll be way more, rightfully so, so it seems weird to make fun of him turning down $20, that's all.

As to the question about paying him his $42-ish max or so, the jury is still out on that. If he maintained similar levels to current, he would clearly be worth that. If he drops off, then it will be less, but nobody knows what will happen yet. You seem to think that he won't be worth anywhere near that, and are still thinking about trading him away, and that he can't be a 2nd option. Much of the thread thinks otherwise. And the evidence we have supports that. So we can wait and see what happens, but while we wait, it's fine to keep discussing it, and the current evidence is that he will be worth it.

 

How bout the Kobe eye treatment for Hillbilly Kobe @sirronstuff ?

 

OK thanks, I want HIM on our team even at the max. AR is 27 years old and entering his prime, which means what we are seeing is his floor for the next 5 years. He still has room to grow. Yes, he's currently not an ideal fit next to Luka, but the Mavs got to the Finals with Kyrie as a sidekick. AR's defensive metrics are better than Kyrie's. Both AR and Luka need to improve on the defensive end, but it's up to our front office to build around those two. We got Ayton, LaRavia, and Smart which is a good start. Hopefully Lebron retires.