Austin Reaves is emerging as the Lakers' third star

Despite navigating the fifth-toughest opening schedule in the NBA, the Lakers have managed an impressive 4-2 start. While Anthony Davis, LeBron James and new head coach JJ Redick have justifiably garnered much of the credit, it’s Austin Reaves who’s quietly shining. He’s elevated his game and is emerging as the third star L.A. needs to make a serious title run.

Reaves is the basketball equivalent of an average-looking dude at a party chasing the girl. While she’s checking out the other guys, he’s there, refilling her drink, complimenting her dress and making her laugh with self-deprecating jokes until she falls for him. Unlike almost every other player in the NBA, Reaves doesn’t have that A+ highlight-reel athleticism. He’s had to master all the other aspect of the game — the ability to absorb contact, the fundamentals, the IQ and the motor — to carve out a significant role in the NBA.

He might be the best guard in the league at drawing contact, the next iteration of James Harden or Chris Paul, adept at leveraging every trick in the book under the NBA’s new foul rules to get to the line. While Reaves certainly gets the majority of fan bases outside of L.A. red-faced in anger, they have to respect the bravado. Reaves gets mauled each game, hitting the floor on what feels like every other play, yet he simply brushes back his black mop of hair with a grimace and continues to grind.

He combines upper-middle-class Kyrie Irving-level ball handling with a repertoire of shoulder jukes, head bobs, body feints and pump fakes to keep defenders guessing. Once he penetrates the lane, he’s arguably the best wing finisher in the league, hitting a ridiculous 91.7% of his shots from 0 to 3 feet this season, which isn’t just a fluky outlier; he shot 83.3% at the rim in 2022-23 and 81.0% last year, underscoring his consistent ability to convert around the basket.

Reaves’ playmaking is consistently sharp. He showcases a full arsenal of passes, from simple perimeter swings and finding wide-open teammates beyond the arc to a masterful drive-and-kick game. However, his decision-making as a ball handler in pick-and-roll situations has been crucial in taking his offense to the next level this season.

Redick has been adamant about featuring more Reaves-Davis pick-and-rolls, and the early results are impressive. Through the first few games, Davis is first in the league in roll-man possessions, averaging 5.2 per game. This action, with Reaves as the ball-handler, has quickly become one of the most potent plays in the NBA, with Davis scoring in the 96th percentile on these possessions.

Above all else, this is a shooter’s league, and Reaves has unleashed a new and improved jumper. After a slight regression last season, where he shot a modest 36.7% from beyond the arc on 5.1 attempts per contest, he has boosted his three-point percentage this year. His refined shooting mechanics — spreading his feet for better balance and generating more lift on his jumper — suggest that this performance is not just an early-season heater but a genuine transformation. Additionally, Reaves has sharpened his mid-range game, connecting on an impressive 50.0% from 10 to 16 feet, making him one of the more challenging wing players to defend in the association.

On defense, Reaves will probably never morph into the next coming of Alex Caruso, an unbudgeable perimeter defender who can lock down his assignment and play free safety, consistently leading the league in deflections. Still, don’t let the baby face fool you; Reaves plays with an edge. Whether he’s matched up against a superstar like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or a physically imposing wing like Anthony Edwards, he mixes it up, gets on their nerves and scraps throughout every possession, doing just enough to stop them from going on a game-altering scoring streak.

Reaves’ emergence as a two-way force makes him the ideal complement to James and Davis. With his offensive growth and defensive tenacity, he could be the X-factor that elevates the Lakers in a fiercely competitive Western Conference. Don’t be surprised if this is the year Reaves truly arrives, propelling the Lakers to a top-four seed and a deep playoff run.