Austin Reaves Discussion: How Much Is He Worth?

LOL didn't know you too were up in a tree with Russ.

 

I was one of the main people who argued for Westbrook when the pile on was happening. I was wrong - he couldn’t be a net positive player moving forward after the lakers in any meaningful kind of way.

Where I still maintain I was correct is that he is a good teammate, practically everyone raves about him as the best teammate they’ve ever had. I also believe he was still a championship quality MVP level player but things jsut broke wrong for him during his OKC tenure.

 

I've been impressed this year with his ability to elbow or shoulder guys off of him in the post. Legit big men, he's using his farmer muscle against. Some legit work in the weight room during the off season.

 

That's a good way to put it. He alao seems to have those "sharp elbows" if that makes sense.

 

I guess I did.

Glad to see the pecking order was corrected yesterday. Better for long-term purposes as we move forward into the season. Plus, Luka is just a better player.

 

Meh game. Happens. Still was fine in the final minutes. As always.

 

Had some shooting issues. But we're in a really good spot when 26/11/4 is an off night.

 

people that complain about his foul merchantry should be shown the FGM in the 4th stat.

 

groin injuries can be tricky - rest him as much as he needs

 

They want to cut about 25-30 games off LeBron's season.

 

Seems the general sentiment around the league is Reaves now has become a Top 4/5 shooting guard in the league.
1. Antman 2. Mitchell 3. J-Dub ...those three are pretty consistent. Some even prefer Reaves over Jaylen Brown and Booker.

 

Seriously? Lakersball and to a much lesser degree Lakersground are my only online sources of NBA-related information, so I wouldn't know, but it always seemed to me other fanbases tend to undervalue Lakers' players. A comparison to Booker and Brown is high praise, as much as I dislike both of them.

 

I think Brown is very good, but have always felt that Booker was overrated.

 

Yes he certainly is, ot at least was, when crazy people were comparing him to Kobe and stuff. He's still a very, very good offensive player and actually improved quite a lot on D though. He's better than Austin IMHO and that's not a knock on HIM.

 

Yes, he was in the Top 10 range (ie Herro/Bane/LaVine) last year. With the leap he's taken, most talking heads have HIM firmly in the Top 5.

I think us Laker fans tend to be a bit more mindful in evaluating the growth of our players. Yes, it's still a small sample size, but it's apparent that his ball-handling, passing and shot creation are better than last year.

We're witnessing AR's ascension from the "best 3rd option in the league" into a bona fide 1st/2nd option, which really isn't that surprising, considering his age and work ethic. He'll be an all star this year which will change a lot of people's perception of HIM.