Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Asking Hard Questions About Austin Reaves: Is he the Right Fit With Luka?

Starting point is 00:00:00 A tough game against Boston has fans looking closely at Austin Reeves. Should the Lakers reconsider the expected plan of signing him to a big contract this offseason? That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers. First listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how, where you get your podcast, whether it's Apple, whether it's Spotify,

Starting point is 00:00:39 whether you're one of the 37,000-plus subscribers, the Lockdown Lakers YouTube channel. No matter how you do it, you are part of making the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network, in this or any other, no universe. Brian Kamenetsky with Andy Kaminetsky. We've spent about 20 years, almost 20 years,

Starting point is 00:00:57 covering the NBA and the Lakers for ESPN for the L.A. Times for the athletic. And in that time, Andy, It's all a star-driven organization. The Lakers are trying to figure out how exactly they're going to build around Luca Donchich going forward, the latest star that was almost literally dropped into their laps last year by Dallas and Nico Harrison. At the center of that is Austin Reeves.

Starting point is 00:01:25 And I think it's fair to say that the question of what to do with Reeves this offseason especially after Sunday's tough game against Boston is once again rekindling that issue of what to do with Austin, how much money is he worth and is he the right guy to pair with Luca Donchin? Yeah, and it's not just among fans, for example, earlier on Tuesday night, or, excuse me, Monday night, I did my weekly Lakers show for 710 ESPN Lakers Talk, and I was hanging out at the radio station before then.

Starting point is 00:02:06 And in talking on air with John Ireland, one of the radio voices along with Michael Thompson, for the broadcasts, he mentioned that in the morning show for 710, George Sedano, who is well known in NBA coverage, does sideline for many SPN broadcast stuff like that. He mentioned during his show at Scott Kaplan that he thought the Lakers should be looking to trade.

Starting point is 00:02:32 Austin Reeves this offseason, presumably sometimes sign-in trade, expressing doubts about the long-term viability and fit between him and Luca Donchich. And so it's clear, George stated he thinks Austin is a good player. The problem is not Austin's not good, he overrated, whatever. It's specifically whether or not the fit with him and Luca works moving forward if it's part of the most ideal pieces to put around Luca if it addresses the things Luca needs most to be maximized. It is to some degree about Austin himself. Real quick, just like it's that is part of it.

Starting point is 00:03:17 That is one, there is a group of people who look at it and say it is not Austin per se, it's not quality enough. He's not worth the, you know, 35-ish, you know, 38 million that he could be paid close to 40, whatever it is. That is one line of argument that he is worth the money. He's just the wrong guy to give it to for this team. There's another line of argument. So he's not worth the money because as the Celtics game and other games the Lakers have played over the course of this season and certainly last year's playoffs are very much on people's minds that he does not play well enough against good teams to justify that kind of money. You can argue with

Starting point is 00:03:59 both premises, but it's not just the idea that Austin is a great player, just the wrong player for Luca. There are also people who think he's not good enough. And so I just want to, yeah, that's not what George was saying. You described what George said perfectly well, but it doesn't describe the full range of the argument against Reeves. It is both great player wrong fit. and not actually that great.

Starting point is 00:04:31 You'd be overpaying him at 35 or whatever, 38 million, 40 million because he does not step up frequently enough. His shortcomings are more exploitable by the bad teams. Just if you missed it on Sunday, Austin was not good at 15 points and did not shoot the ball well. and it just four of ten from the floor

Starting point is 00:04:59 struggled to get to the line. He made it there seven times, but it took a lot of effort to get to the line seven times. And if you look at his numbers, a couple different people have put out versions of this tweet over the last day or so. I'll pull from Trevor Lane at Lakers Nation. Austin Reeves versus top ten defense as a season

Starting point is 00:05:21 versus his season stats against the top ten defense is 21 points versus 25 and a half. Free throws a game, five and a half attempts versus over eight, almost eight and a half attempts, 45% shooting against the best teams defensively versus 51% against, you know, everyone. 30% from three versus 37%. So, as you can tell, against the top 10 defenses that he's played against this year, a mark step down against those teams statistically,

Starting point is 00:05:57 some of which you would expect because most players don't put up better numbers against the best defenses. But again, it stretches back to the perception that Austin, the weaknesses that he has as a player. I looked up some numbers as well. And again, some of this is going to be devil in the details, how you're framing all this. but if you start going through, for example, Austin's field goal percentages and free throw attempts and three point percentages versus some of the best perimeter defenses in the league.

Starting point is 00:06:34 In one game against the spurs, obviously small sample size, but 37.5% from the field, just one free throw attempt or outside shooting. Two games against the thunder, 38.5% from the field, just four and a half trips to the line. again, poor free throw percentage. You can find a few examples of performing well against good perimeter defenses, particularly, again, small sample size, but he's showing against the Raptors this year. He smoked them in basically everything you'd want from a score and all around offensive presence. But there is enough of a sample size where you see Austin struggle against some of these defenses. when it comes to over.

Starting point is 00:07:17 Big physical, active athletic guards. Give him trouble. I think it's fair in wing. Sure. Give him a decent amount of trouble. But what I'm saying is, too, it's not, it's, it's in a bunch of different facets. It's not like it's just inefficient scoring, but he makes up for it by getting to the line. Or struggles to finish around the rim against some of this physicality, but he's able to hit outside shots.

Starting point is 00:07:43 Like one of the commonalities I've noticed against some of the best defenses, is that's where Austin's three point percentage is the worst. And maybe that is part of what's dragging down his overall field goal percentage. But if you combine that with fewer trips to the line and the commonalities of those defenses, if nothing else reinforces some of the weaknesses and flaws that Austin has. Well, they're all related. I think those things like each one of those, like, because he just, they're all really, He doesn't have as much space to shoot, you know, which brings the percentages down.

Starting point is 00:08:20 He struggles to get the separation against, you know, these, you know, the, the Kaysen Wallace type defenders, by the way, who makes people's lives difficult for a lot of really good scripts. Why, you know, if he's going to get paid by someone, it's because he's really good defensively. Alex Caruso, same way. But, you know, when you can't get that separation, it's harder to get the foul call. You don't get the step. You don't get that angle. that allows you to get the call. Austin Reeves is an elite finisher at the rim,

Starting point is 00:08:51 but you got to be able to get there. So if you can't get that step in that angle, is a change of direction guy, change of speed guy, you know, a crafty player, but not one that is just going to blow by you with speed and athleticism off the dribble. So, I mean, all of those things are related. And, you know, each year, I think,

Starting point is 00:09:13 is a counter to some of these things. He's kind of increased what's in the tool bag, working with the same limitations physically every year. And so it's not like he can't overcome it, but this is where he is now. And the Lakers no longer have that runway of being able to say, well, you know, right now we're paying him 13 million. Next, we're going to pay him 14 million or whatever. They're going from best contracted the league to, I don't want to say. boy, like, you know, no longer going to be categorized. That could very well be still worth the money.

Starting point is 00:09:49 But that is a big difference between like doesn't really matter if he's an all-star level guy or near all-star level. He's so vastly exceeding what he's getting paid. It doesn't matter. You pay him 37, 38, 39, 40 million. It matters whether or not he plays at an all-star level versus a near-all-star level. a All-Star level against all competition or only against lottery teams. Like that kind of stuff. And what that price does in terms of the pieces that you can put around,

Starting point is 00:10:25 presumably him and Luca. Like when we come back, like there's a couple questions in this that I think are, they're obviously connected questions because they're all part of the overarching question of whether or not you think the Lakers should commit to Austin as part. of the foundation with Luca moving forward. And we will tell me, at least I'll tell you what I think the answer to that question is. Well, but yeah, go ahead.

Starting point is 00:10:51 I was going to say there's a couple pieces of this. There's a, do you think Austin Reeves is a good fit with Luca and the needs that you have for Luca, trying to maximize a team with Luca as the centerpiece moving forward. There's also the question of, do you think Austin Reeves is, as good as he needs to be to be slated for the position that he seems to be put in with this team as part of a build. Like, is he a number two? Is he a number three? How is he going to be treated? How do they seem to be building? Like, these are also separate questions connected, but also separate from just how well he may or may not fit as part of a foundation with Luca. To get to all that next.

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Starting point is 00:12:49 Right now, support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. So I will say this. I the first question is one that I think is is a challenge to answer which is the one about fit with Luca um because on the one hand and I know you've mentioned this a bunch of times that the um the the issue of Austin and and like you know his skill set all these other things like there's there is redundant between him and Luca. No question.

Starting point is 00:13:45 The flip side is... Double-sided redundancy, by the way. Like double-edged redundancy. Neither one of them are great defenders. They're both... You know, Luca can be fine on that side of the ball. And Reeves certainly is a worker on that side, but he has got natural limitations

Starting point is 00:14:00 that teams like to take advantage of. Both of them are decent in passing lanes. Both of them are decent, you know, team defenders, you know, Luca, especially when he's... dialed in and whatever, but neither one of these guys are even close to what you would consider to be like big time two-way players. And so, you know, they have the similar skill set offensively. They have a similar deficiency defensively. There's no question there is some redundancy there. And for some people, that is a big reason to try to figure out something else that you can do

Starting point is 00:14:42 with AR. That combination at the top of your roster is sort of destined for problems. Yeah, I have expressed those concerns. Do I think the two of them can work together as a foundation? I do think it is possible just in the sense that they do work well offensively. I think while there are some overlapping features with them as an offensive duo, I don't think they become as pronounced as the overlapping problems and redundancies that we're really starting to see with Luca Austin and LeBron. That just at this point, I think, is too much similarity, too much overlap, not enough skill set variance, not enough guys who thrive off ball. Like if you have three offensive hubs, none of the three really are even semi-ideal off ball. Like you start just

Starting point is 00:15:40 running into problems of maximizing the pieces that you have. And it is the reason, it is a reason, at least. I think that the version of the Lakers offense that people envisioned with Luca and LeBron and Austin as the foundation has been much more about on paper than on the court. I don't think it's the only reason. I think it is a reason. It's a concern I had heading into the season and it's only become more pronounced as things have gone along.

Starting point is 00:16:09 but I think there's less of it with Luca and Austin just as two as opposed to a third person. And we've seen enough evidence that it can be productive. Where I think the problem is going to be and come is you at that point, there's much more of an urgency that the next three people that you're putting around them as the starting five, or the next three or four people that play major roles in your rotation, they got to be dead-ass perfect around those three. You need a rim-protecting big man. You need at least two defensive wings who can shoot

Starting point is 00:16:46 or provide some type of real offensive utility while being plus defenders, if not elite, because you need at least three defenders out there who can offset these issues with Luca and Austin. Then I think if you have that, the rest can fall into place. The question then, can you find that with the Lakers cap space, which is going to be pretty big compared to the rest of the league around the offseason, but it's not going to be endless.

Starting point is 00:17:16 They do not have a massive amount of assets to trade for those type of pieces. And I don't know how many players are going to be available either through free agency or trade that fit that bill. So you could you could make an argument that if a sign and trade possibility was there that Austin obviously. agrees to and that you are getting the pieces back that supplement around Luca better, maybe in the aggregate, you end up with a better roster around Luca. You're talking about trading Austin for smaller pieces that are as opposed to a single star. Or maybe. Or, okay, this is just an example.

Starting point is 00:17:59 I don't think it would happen. I don't think he would sign with this team. But as an example, someone like Trey Murphy III, who is a much better. off ball threat than Austin. He is a far better shooter than Austin Riggs, just like a pure shooter who can also put up 20-ish points a game. Like Austin, he's not

Starting point is 00:18:17 as good a playmaker as Austin, but he's more athletic. He's more of an off-ball threat. I think he's a better defender than Austin. He's not elite, but I think he's better, or at the very least, you can put him on more types of assignments. Somebody like that, just...

Starting point is 00:18:32 I'm not totally, but like based on the fact that Austin's just not that strong. I think that it's unlikely that Murphy would be worse. Well, sure. Again, and I want to make it clear. I don't, I'm not saying I think this is realistic. I talked recently with Jake Madison for my ESPN Lakers show and he didn't think this would be doable. He thinks the Pelicans are going to want to keep Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, for that matter, keep sticking with what they're doing. I don't think Austin would agree to assign and trade to New Orleans anyway. But if say,

Starting point is 00:19:07 you could get either a high end number two, someone like that who just does certain things that Luca doesn't. So maybe there's a little bit more balance or I guess more pieces in the aggregate. They're not this. Here's the thing. When I look at this, this question of Reeves with all of this should be in the context of LeBron is not here next year. No, no, I know that. I'm just, I'm saying like just to push forward here. Like, if you look at, you mentioned it before, Austin and Reed, Austin and Luca as a combination, I have a strong net rating this year. They had a strong net rating last year.

Starting point is 00:19:48 I mean, it's five the last time. They're plus five, I want to say offensive, yeah, net rating for this season, looking at it again. So like that combination is just fine. And so I agree with you. If I could swap out Austin for my number two with a Scotty Barnes type, you know, a strong offensive player with, you know, really good defensive bonafides. I would do that in a heartbeat.

Starting point is 00:20:21 I love Austin, but I would do it. But here's the thing. I don't think you can. Sure. And so what you have to figure out here, if you're the Lakers, and we'll continue this after the break. If you decide that you want to trade Austin, what are you replacing him with? Because that ideal two-way wing is unlikely to be had for Austin, for the reasons that you mention. You have to find a team willing to give up that player. And that, you know, I would say

Starting point is 00:20:57 two-way wings are, you know, who can shoot, who can play defense, who are legitimate, offensive players are probably the most valuable players in the NBA right now. So, you know, you got to be able to find the player to come back. You've got to be able to find a team that Austin will sign for. And then you have to figure out all the other machinations. So it's unlikely to happen.

Starting point is 00:21:23 So what do you do then? because the Lakers have their own clock that they have to understand and deal with. And so we'll get to that next. Stockton Lakers is brought to you by Fandau. Have you ever wanted to experience the NBA finals live and in person? I've been there three times. It's awesome.

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Starting point is 00:23:19 if that's something that you were interested in, changing up that experience, to remove the ads from your listening experience and all that. Go to Lockdownlakers. com. Check out the showman. notes for more directions there. See if it's for you. If it's not, we love you just the same. I think, you know, this is one of these things. And I actually kind of worry the Lakers,

Starting point is 00:23:45 because the concerns about Austin and the fit are real. And like, you know, the concerns about some of the limitations that Austin might have. Like, there's a reasonable chance, even as I think Austin will get better, even still, because, you know, he's just, again, you just sort of adds stuff seemingly to his bag every year. It's certainly reasonable to think that there is going to be a type of player that can give him trouble throughout his career, which, by the way, is not unusual. Few players dominate just against the entire league.

Starting point is 00:24:21 And so, and that includes some All-Stars. I'm not, I don't, I don't, I don't, you can find a better fit and a better player than Reeves. Go for it. But I also don't think, I think the Lakers need to be real careful here because they have to start building something. And if it's not Reeves, it's who now? You could say, like, there is an argument to be made for a trade for assets for, you know, quantity that equals quality to because they got to have a lot of roster spots. They've got to fill out around Luca. Would, if you found the right mix of players sacrificing high-end talent for a lot of rotation,

Starting point is 00:25:01 and starting lineup depth, there's an argument to be made for that with an Austin trade. That, to me, of the things you could do is far more likely than one that returns a single player that kind of slots into your number two spot. But you also then, there's a lot of stuff the Lakers are going to need to find. And I just, I think they can, they can waste a lot of time trying to make better the enemy of good you have an all-star caliber player i agree with you you have to then figure you have to get very specific players to put around them okay but you know what those players are you know they need to be and you can i think you can do that um so i would be very hesitant to just sort of

Starting point is 00:25:52 i'm not talking about you specifically but as a fan to just sort of you know kind of be like this guy sucks and we need to move on well i don't i mean Doing better than Austin is going for the amount of money that you're going to have is going to be real hard. It is going to be hard. It may be hard, but I'm not debating whether or not it would be difficult. I'm debating whether or not it would be worth trying or if it's ultimately what the team needs. If you're talking about the maximized version, the maximized version of any team. I'll ask you that.

Starting point is 00:26:28 This is a better way of asking it. If you can't find that better thing, whether, you know, it's the number two that's just a better fit. Again, I keep going back to a Scott Barron, Scotty Barnes type. They're not getting Scotty Barnes. I understand that. But that's the prototype. If you can't, if you can't find that guy, do you sign Austin Reeves? At this point, you've had so many opportunities to trade Austin Reeves.

Starting point is 00:26:56 It's goddamn stupid not to sign him at this. point because you've wasted like two or three years where he could have been the centerpiece where you move him for a young player that another team thinks they're going to lose, that could have been even before you knew you had Luca, just a player that you felt more confident in, whatever. Like by now, you're pot committed. If you cannot find some type of sign and trade that works with Austin, you keep him just because losing him for nothing, just cap space and theories is, again, stupid.

Starting point is 00:27:33 I think in a perfect world, what you would try to do is have a number one and a number two who do certain things that the other one doesn't, where you broaden the scope of what can be provided by your two best players. And whether you're talking about positionality, whether you're talking about skill set, whether whatever and austin and luca don't really do that both in terms of what they do well and in terms of what they don't do well building around them like i said i don't think is impossible to do but i think it's going to be complicated whenever people talk about the build with dallas in 2024 when they went to the finals with luca and people always talk about well that was a back court

Starting point is 00:28:17 of luca and kairi irving and neither one of them are known as you know defensive pluses and they managed to make that work all the way to the finals. And that is true. That is true. And if you want to say that that could be a template for Luca and Austin, I think there's some validity to that. But what I do think people need to recognize, and I think this gets lost in the conversation, the context, as much as the trades for Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington help take that team to the next level, the biggest reason that they were able to do that, I think, with that specific setup is they managed to nail a veteran's minimum signing in Derek Jones Jr. Like one of the best, I think of probably the last five to ten years.

Starting point is 00:29:01 And Derek lively was ready to contribute on a rookie scale deal that, by the way, they tanked the previous season out of the play in order to make sure to keep that lottery pick. These are two things that either A, the Lakers don't have in terms of that lottery pick or B, the Veterans Minimum thing, as Laker fans well know over the last several years, you can occasionally hit like Malik Monk. That one worked out really well. Majority of them are spotty. The other issue, too, that I think is specific to Austin,

Starting point is 00:29:38 I don't know if he's quite as good as he needs to be. I think he's better than a number three. I'm not quite sure he's good enough to be a number two. I think he's somewhere around a two and a half. And that half makes a difference. It means you're three and your four and your five. Right. And that's a little bit better.

Starting point is 00:30:06 That complicates the build. Because again, I think Austin is hands down. If you want to build a championship caliber team, if Austin is your third best player, I think you're in really good shape. if he's your second best player, I need to know more details. You need to know who else.

Starting point is 00:30:21 But here's my attitude. Maybe we'll carry this into the mini segment for, for Tuesday as well. Austin Apalooza. It really is. Tell you what. One bad game. It wasn't one,

Starting point is 00:30:38 but it's not one bad game. That's the thing. Even as a big Austin supporter, it is not one bad game. I mean, I think Austin is really good. It's not a question. Ryan is better than a sixth man. You know, we're seeing that in the chat.

Starting point is 00:30:52 Like it for the money, like you're number two, your number three, they're all going to cost about that. And what we're really having a referendum on here when you talk about the problems of filling out the rest of the roster, can you get those other things? Can you nail your veterans minimum? Can you draft the right guy who can play in his rookie year? Can you make the right trade with your spare parts and all of these other things?

Starting point is 00:31:22 And do you have a, it was Grant Williams, right, who everybody hated? Like, you wanted to move somewhere else. Like, do you have a guy that nobody likes that you can trade for good players? This is a referendum on Rob Polinka, as much as it is a referendum on Austin Reeves. If you believe that, whether they signed, even if they did go out and get a better fit for a pure number two like that's just like hand in glove perfect for Luca. You know, a guy who can run on the wing, shoot threes, you know, finish with an alley-oop and

Starting point is 00:31:59 you know, and defend. You still need Rob Polinka to fill in the rest of the roster effectively. So I think maybe let's, you know, whether I guess the flip side is you'd have the perfect number two. But, you know, this question of, you know, but this like chase of perfection thing to me is, is, you know, kind of silly because it's almost certainly not going to be able to. I'm not talking about. So what can you do? Do you believe that the Lakers basketball operation can put together a team around Austin?

Starting point is 00:32:42 Reeves and Luca Donchich. That's a lot of what this is, is that question. Do you have enough faith in them to be able to do it to make that the two guys you need to sign because more than

Starting point is 00:32:58 likely, those are the two best guys you're going to have access to this off seat? Well, that is probably true. But again, that is a separate question, at least as far as a theoretical of whether or not you think this would be, whether or not you think this will be good enough independent of your faith in Rob the Link. Well, but like, but if you're like I said, you're also including that fact of

Starting point is 00:33:21 he's got to do a good job of like, I think it would be complicated to do it no matter who the GM was. I think it would be complicated to do. But that's my point. It would be complicated no matter who the GM is, but better GMs would inspire more faith that it could get done. And so that's kind of part of my question is. do you think that this difficult thing

Starting point is 00:33:42 can be done by the people who currently run the Lakers? And I don't think we have time to answer that in this episode. But it's a conversation that we can carry forward whether through the small episode or in future ones because I doubt this is the last time we're going to talk about Austin. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can hang out with over 37,000 subscribers to the channel. We'll see everyone next time.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Asking Hard Questions About Austin Reaves: Is he the Right Fit With Luka?

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