The Lakeshow Review

As the Lakers get ready for the 2025-26 season, they have answered several questions that were up in the air heading into the offseason. Namely, their search for a center is now complete after the acquisition of Deandre Ayton. Additionally, the signing of guard Marcus Smart will address a gaping hole at perimeter/wing defense. Newcomer forward Jake LaRavia will also bring some youth and scoring at a very reasonable price, not to mention his age suggests he may still have good upside. However, one question that remains unanswered is what the Lakers can expect from their 2nd and 3rd stars, that being Austin Reaves and LeBron James. Specifically, do the Lakers have enough in Austin Reaves to complement Luka Dončić as a legitimate third wheel? It’s a good question, and I’ve heard good arguments for either side. But to me, based on what we’ve seen so far, the answer is yes.

For starters, Austin Reaves is a very good fit playing next to Luka Dončić. Reaves’ versatility puts him in a good spot playing opposite to Luka. AR is a willing passer, aside from being a capable three-level scorer. He’s also a willing off-ball scorer, which is key playing next to ball-dominant Luka. Being that Luka himself is also an exceptional passer (arguably one of the best in the NBA), ARs off-ball prowess keeps him effective when both are sharing the floor. The fact that both players are williing scorers and playmakers make them a dangerous pairing for defenses, as there’s no “head of the snake” for the defense to zero-in on when it comes to playmaking. Both Luka and AR can dish, so when the defense tries to neutralize one there’s always the other left to contend with. This type of multi-pronged playmaking can create all sorts of chaos for defenses.

There’s also the fact that Reaves and Dončić yielded the best two-man offensive rating (119.7) out of any Lakers duo. Granted, this is from a 26-game sample size, but I think that the film clearly shows a great synergy between the two players. The analytics seem to correlate this as well. According to Cleaning the Glass, LAs best 5 man lineup with a point differential of +59.8 also happened to be one which featured Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić (along with Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes and Dorian Finney-Smith). The evidence is there to suggest that these two players are great fits, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

So now the question is, does Austin Reaves provide both the production and volume requisite to be a legit third option on a championship team? Based on everything we’ve seen so far, the answer is yes. In 2025, AR put together a career year, averaging 20.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 46/37/87 splits. Moreover, after the D’Angelo Russell trade on December 29th, when his workload and usage increased, AR responded by averaging 21.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the rest of the season. Lastly, after the Luka Dončić trade, Reaves put up 21.9 points (on a stellar 39% from three), 4.8 boards and 5.2 assists in the 28 games that he played after Luka debuted with the team. These are fantastic numbers. Especially for a player that’s viewed as a third option.

The big drawback with Austin is of course the defense. Can he be enough of a willing and capable defender so that it doesn’t offset his offensive contributions? This remains to be seen. All reports point to Austin Reaves being dedicated to improving his defense during this offseason. But these are simply rumors and we won’t know until we see it during the season. With that said, a little bit of added size and toughness would go a long way for AR. This way he can stay in front of his defender, and employ some physicality to stop his man from simply bullying him. I also think that the addition of Marcus Smart should help the Lakers tremendously on the perimeter, as he can now assume the toughest assignment, relieving guys like AR and Luka on that end. With that said, even a moderate boost on the defensive end would benefit AR tremendously. This is what kept guys like Manu Ginobili, Steve Nash and Jeff Hornacek relevant in the league for so long. They were all known for their offense, but could hold their own on the defensive side as well.

Overall, I believe Austin Reaves is an excellent fit next to Luka moving forward. He was deadly shooting open catch and shoot three pointers, netting them at 47.8% when left open. This bodes well for spread ball screen situations with Luka playing the role of ball handler, or also simply playing one pass away from Luka and LeBron, thus keeping defenses honest on dribble penetration scenarios. Of course the elephant in room being that in the playoffs, Reaves’ numbers took a dip. He still shot a respectable 38.8% on catch and shoot threes. But it was his off-the-dribble game that suffered. He was playing through an injury, which certainly hurt his productivity. Nevertheless, his production in the 5-game series was underwhelming, although he clearly wasn’t the only problem.

As far as the salary, I believe Reaves is easily worth the type of money he’d command. If it’s in the $25-30M range, then he’s easily worth that. He makes about $13M currently, placing him markedly below his real market value. When one looks around the NBA and sees names like Isaiah Hartenstein, Jerami Grant, Kristaps Porzingis, Tyler Herro, Dejounte Murray and Jordan Poole all hovering around the $30M+ annual salary range, there is no reason to think AR isn’t every bit as good as all of those players. In some cases, even better. In the current NBA landscape, Reaves is worth that type of money, and he’s proven that he can offer the on-court value to back it. It simply comes down to the type of improvement that he can make on the defensive end. If he can improve, then it’s a no-brainer, he’s worth that money. Another factor will be how the Lakers decide to build the rest of the roster around Luka once LeBron James is out. But all in all, Reaves is an excellent player, one bad postseason be damned, I think he can excel and bring the type of game that will warrant a nice extension which will benefit the team in the long-term. In the meantime, let’s hope that the front office keeps exercising patience and making sound roster moves that gradually improve the team, so that next summer they can get to work. Go Lakers.