Austin Reaves Made Lakers Franchise History On Sunday Night

It's Austin Reaves Day on All Lakers!

Los Angeles Lakers backup shooting guard Austin Reaves is having a moment.

Last night, he scored a career-best 35 points while shooting 9-of-14 from the floor and 16-of-18 from the charity stripe, leading LA to a desperately-needed 111-105 home victory over the feisty young Orlando Magic.

Apparently, Reaves earned a unique distinction for his scoring prowess Sunday.

ESPN, which seems to have dozens of people staffed exclusively on a research team to uncover obscure NBA stats, did it again today by discovering this gem of a tidbit:

On Sunday, Austin Reaves became the 2nd Lakers player since starters have been recorded in 1970-71 with 35 pts, 5 reb and 5 ast off the bench, joining Lou Williams in 2016.

He's also the 1st undrafted player to score 35 points in a game for the Lakers in the Modern Draft Era. pic.twitter.com/3IgcsJG2D0

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 20, 2023

The 6'5" wing will reach restricted free agency this summer. Though this current Lakers front office, led by resurgent team president Rob Pelinka, has so far been reticent to re-sign its young players to second contracts, word on the street is that both Reaves' representatives and LA brass are hoping to continue their partnership well into the future.

In his second NBA season, Reaves is averaging 12 points on .518/.380/.854 shooting splits, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He is expected to earn a big raise in his next contract. At most, LA can offer him a four-year, $50 million deal, a number rival teams could potentially top. Thanks to the Gilbert Arenas Rule, however, the Lakers would be able to match an offer tendered by an opposing team, even if they couldn't offer more than that $50 million rate.

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