LeBron James and Luka Doncic are headliners for the Los Angeles Lakers, but a third name has emerged in the team’s push for another NBA Championship.
The Lakers are third in the Western Conference with four games left in its regular season.
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Austin Reaves, a fourth-year guard from the University of Oklahoma, has become the secret sauce for J.J. Redick and Los Angeles ahead of the playoffs. He is averaging 27 points per game this month on 52.1 percent shooting from the field and 57.6 percent from 3-point range. Reaves had back-to-back 30-point matchups to open April against Golden State (31) and New Orleans (30), while posting 20 points — including four of eight from 3-point range — in Sunday’s 126-99 victory for the Lakers over OKC.
He is having his best season, totaling 20.2 points a game in his fourth year, but more is on the horizon for Reaves.
Bill Simmons believes he can be a 25 points per game type of player.
Bill Simmons believes Austin Reaves could average 25 PPG at some point in his career ????
(h/t @Ralph_MasonJr ) pic.twitter.com/l0EepNefdc
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 7, 2025
“I can’t believe how good he is offensively,” Simmons said about Reaves. “It is to the point where he is on a team with LeBron and Luka and not only does his coach thing it is a good thing to run things through Austin Reaves, but LeBron and Luka are like ‘we should run stuff through Austin Reaves.’ That is the level he is at. I think he is a potential 25 points per game scorer at some point in his career.”
He is having a good season and the Lakers are going to need Reaves at his best to win it all.
Stephen M. Smith is a writer for Ball Exclusives. You can follow him him X via @CoachingMSmith.
