Perhaps one of general manager Rob Pelinka’s best moves since taking over the reigns of the Los Angeles Lakers was securing Austin Reaves as an undrafted free agent. The Lakers signed Reaves to a two-way contract immediately following the 2021 NBA Draft, and he has gone on an incredible journey with the franchise ever since.
Reaves went from two-way player to standard contract before his first-ever game, and in four years has become an All-Star caliber talent who is the legitimate No. 2 scoring option on a Lakers team that features LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
And earlier this year, he hit the game-winning bucket to seal an improbable road win against the Minnesota Timberwolves in a game where Doncic, James, Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent were all out. Pelinka spoke recently about his admiration for Reaves and told a story from that night in Minnesota, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“From the time we drafted Austin, just knowing that he was a winner, to see how he’s developed under our system. How he’s gained his confidence. Being at that Minnesota game, he hits the game-winner and he’s walking off the court — and I made the trip and I was there — you bring up the golf, I said to him ‘what’s more amazing, a hole-in-one or a game-winner in the NBA?’ And he said well I haven’t had a hole-in-one yet, so I actually took the picture of him hitting the game-winner and put it on some golf balls and gave them to him and said ‘when you make a hole-in-one, you can answer my question.’”
Reaves is an avid golfer and has had some incredible public moments on the course. But nothing compares to what he’s already accomplished in the NBA, even though he’s still relatively early in his career and just now hitting his prime years.
And with Reaves in what is technically a contract year — with him all but certainly opting out of the final year of his current deal — seeing that his relationship with Pelinka is strong is yet another point to show that his future is likely with the purple and gold.
Austin Reaves having fun with Luka Doncic and LeBron James
Austin Reaves has steadily risen up the NBA ranks and should now be considered a star on a Lakers team that also features Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
Reaves had already taken a leap the season prior, but the 2025-26 season represents his best campaign yet as he’s been one of the best offensive players in the league by almost every metric.
The budding star guard put on a show in the Lakers’ recent win against the L.A. Clippers, dropping 31 points with most of it coming in the fourth quarter.
Doncic and James also had huge scoring nights and Reaves attributed all of their success to playing basketball the correct way.
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