Questioning Austin Reaves’ future with the Lakers did not seem possible after the regular season, but after his playoff struggles, those questions no longer seem as far-fetched.
Before the Lakers’ first round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves started, it was easy to predict that this matchup could end up being the most difficult of Austin Reaves’ playoff career.
It was not only very likely Reaves would be the primary defensive option against Anthony Edwards, but that Minnesota would treat Reaves as the primary option he’d been all regular season and deploy Edwards — or potentially Jaden McDaniels if he was not defending Luka Dončić — onto him.
Reaves, then, would very much be in the crosshairs all series and his ability to navigate these sorts of difficult individual matchups on both sides of the floor by holding up defensively while also maintaining a baseline level of offensive production — something he could credibly claim he’d done in his two previous years as a playoff performer — would be very important to the Lakers chances at winning.
However, instead of elevating his game as he’d done in year’s past, or even just maintaining his improved regular season production and effectiveness, Reaves saw significant dips nearly across the board as his points (down 4.0 per game), assists (down 2.2), free throw attempts (down 3.6), and shooting percentages (down 4.9% overall, 5.8% from behind the arc) all declined while his turnovers and fouls committed per game went up.
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These end-of-series numbers tell you what happened, of course, but they don’t tell the story of how it happened.
What stood out most in watching Reaves, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, was how much he struggled to create separation against his individual defender. On multiple possessions a game, Austin got stonewalled at the point of attack, had his handle disrupted, and struggled to even get to his comfortable spots on the floor, to say nothing of generating advantage. Even off the ball, he struggled to shake free from the holding and hand-fighting that typifies playoff hoops.
And this wasn’t just against Edwards, but against most every Timberwolf he found himself matched up against.
By simply diving into the types of shots he took and did not take during the series, it’s fairly easy to see how things went wrong for Reaves. Namely, you see a huge uptick in 3-point field goals combined with a significant decrease in free throws, particularly in relation to what he did during the regular season.
In the regular season, about half of Austin’s total field goal attempts came from beyond the arc (7.3 attempts from deep out of his 14.2 FGA). In the postseason, Reaves’ 3-point attempts took up nearly two-thirds of his total shot attempts (9.4 of his 14.6 attempts), with him only connecting on 31.9% of those shots. Meanwhile, from the foul line, Austin averaged five attempts per game in the regular season, but took just seven total in the five games vs. Minnesota.
On too many possessions, Reaves never got inside the 3-point line at all as the Wolves’ defense switched screens and left him on an island to create for himself. He did get some wins, particularly in Game 2 where he had several bully-ball and speed-attack drives for floaters and layups. But, overall, he got bottled up, fighting for space and looking to turn a corner that never became available. This led to too many threes, including some he’d surely like to have back.
And, again, this wasn’t just against Edwards. Austin had issues beating Donte DiVincenzo too, and even had real problems taking Mike Conley off the dribble several times towards the end of the series, signaling a level of effectiveness that was so far below expectation, it seemed like there had to be some greater explanation as to why he was struggling to the degree he was.
And, it turns out, there was.
Reaves was, reportedly, playing with what would normally be a “multi-week” toe injury, the type of ailment that had him staying off his feet on the days between games to give himself the best chance to be able to play. The fact that an injury this serious did not land Reaves on the injury report at all is a bit curious, especially for a Lakers team that had proven to be relatively cautious in how they managed injuries this season, several times erring on the side of caution with player availability and being pretty proactive in how they managed the injury report.
That said, in taking these reports at face value, this is the exact sort of injury that could hamper his mobility and explosiveness both off the dribble and out of a triple-threat, leaving him less able to create the sort of separation that power the speed attacks which not only help him draw fouls, but get defenders on their heels to open up the rest of his offensive game.
Austin, to his credit, never made an excuse or even mentioned the injury himself (though I’d imagine it was his camp who leaked it, but I digress). After Game 5, Reaves pointed the finger at himself and straight up said he needed to be better.
“Obviously, I didn’t have the series that I wanted to have,” Reaves said. “So you can point the finger at me. I really don’t care. I wasn’t good enough to help us be successful and I wish I could have did more but I didn’t. I struggled, but you live and you learn and I can guarantee that I’ll get back to work this offseason and be better.”
And the trust that Reaves will, in fact, get better is something the organization clearly believes, too.
At the end-of-season press conference that Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick held, the former called Reaves a “pillar” of the team next to LeBron James and Luka while also noting that he has full trust in that trio to be able to play together at a high level.
Whether it’s just semantics or rooted in how much the team does value him, elevating Austin to the same level as his superstar teammates is quite the statement by the newly extended and minted President of Basketball Operations and signals they see his future in Los Angeles, not just for next season, but as a potential long term partner next to Dončić.
Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
One can still question, however, whether that should be the case, particularly in the wake of how Reaves played against the Wolves. Of course, the injury played some part in his diminished effectiveness, but even when accounting for being hurt, it was clear Reaves’ athletic disadvantages were critical factors in his general play.
Minnesota not only swarmed him with size, speed, and length when guarding him, but targeted him on the other side of the ball with quickness and strength, taking him to the post and forcing him to box out bigger players within the Lakers’ switching scheme defensively.
This sort of targeting was only amplified in lineups where he played next to Luka, as Austin would often find himself on the back line as a help defender near the rim or crashing down to help the helper to fend off a rebounder when Luka was attacked in isolation from the top of the floor or the wing.
This combination of having both Reaves and Dončić as viable entry points for opposing offenses to go after must be a part of the roster construction calculus moving forward, and it must happen as soon as this offseason. As LeBron goes into his 23rd season, and then as the rest of the roster needs to be filled out once James ultimately does retire (whenever that is), finding ways to be more than just average on defense with both Austin and Luka on the floor won’t be easy, and one has to wonder if the Lakers will actively disadvantage themselves on that side of the ball for the possibility of reaping the sort of offensive rewards that their talent projects, but were not there these playoffs.
Again, there’s context here that matters, but the results were what they were and the Lakers will ultimately need to decide whether those factors tip the scales towards continuity or towards filling in the other clear roster holes that were also huge — and likely the main — factors that led to them losing in the first round, and potentially using a player as good as Austin to help them do it.
There is still time to sort all of these variables out. Austin is under contract for at least one more season before he has a player option in the summer of 2026.
That said, he is also extension-eligible this summer. And with an unfortunate playoff performance coming in his first season where his role was both prioritized by the Lakers and by opponents, coupled with the sort of franchise altering trade that created some replication with Reaves and the team’s newest superstar in both good and bad ways, the Lakers would be wise to keep all options on the table.
You can follow Darius on BlueSky at @forumbluegold.