The Los Angeles Lakers have made Austin Reaves untouchable in any trade talks, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“I just know JJ [Redick] has big plans for Austin Reaves,” Windhorst said during the September 6 episode of his “Hoop Collective” podcast. “Not only that, when there were discussions with the Lakers this summer and teams had discussions with them and Austin Reaves came up it was a hard ‘no.’”
Windhorst noted that Reaves was expected to take a major leap last season. And despite averaging career highs across the board — 15.9 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds — Reaves had an underwhelming season based on the expectations he would pop as one of the league’s brightest young stars following his Team USA stint in the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila.
“I just know that JJ really believes in Austin Reaves,” Windhorst said, “and I think he’s going to try to put him in a position to be successful.”
Reaves’ agent, Aaron Reilly, believes that would be the case based on his reaction when Redick’s hiring was announced.
“This coach is about to show a different part of Austin’s game [that] none have you seen. Kept receipts on all that third superstar [expletive]. Great hire for LA – going to be a big year next season,” Reilly tweeted on June 20.
Austin Reaves’ First Impression on JJ Redick
During Reaves’ trip to the Philippines as an ambassador of a local sports entertainment app in August, he recalled an interesting meeting with Redick in Las Vegas in the NBA Summer League.
“He came up to us and was like ‘I’ve been staring at a whiteboard for three hours trying to figure out like, how we’re going to do this stuff.’ So you can just tell the intensity that he has, the time that he’s going to put in,” Reaves told reporters in the Philippines.
His first impression on Redick?
“[Redick] is someone that’s a fierce competitor,” Reaves said.
Windhorst said on his podcast that Redick’s hire is a major shift in the Lakers organization as they are going to prioritize developing their young players in the absence of a star trade.
“One of the reasons [Reaves] is not available is that they want to keep him like this is one of the big things about the Lakers … the verbiage coming out of the Lakers is that they are developing a team now and they hired a first-time head coach,” Windhorst said
Lakers’ Homegrown Pride
In the weeks leading to the February trade deadline, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin explained in detail why the Lakers have made Reaves untouchable.
“I can’t imagine a better role player because [Reaves] has the trust of those two guys [LeBron James and Anthony Davis],” McMenamin said on the January 8 episode “The Lowe Post” podcast. “He has the confidence of those two guys. He’s been a proven playoff performer. He has the trust and the kind support of the Buss family — the brothers who identified him in the draft process and Governor Jeanie. That’s a point of pride for her to have someone like Austin Reeves who was a homegrown Laker organization product [and] become a star.”
The 24-year-old Reaves will enter the second season of a four-year, $54 million contract he signed last year, which is considered one of the best value deals in the NBA. He is one of the success stories in the league after going undrafted in 2021
