Lakers News: LA Changes Starters Ahead Of Big Test Wednesday Against Suns

A new-look first five.

Earlier tonight, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham hinted that he might be making a change to LA's starting five ahead of the team's matchup against the Phoenix Suns this evening.

True to form, he announced the change as late as possible. Per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, ascendant second-year shooting guard Austin Reaves will be joining the Lakers' starting lineup.

The surprise to yours truly was not necessarily Reaves' addition to LA's opening five (which I predicted), but rather the player he'll be replacing. Instead of being subbed in for small forward Troy Brown Jr. (who is himself playing in the stead of LeBron James), Reaves is coming for the job of incumbent two-guard Malik Beasley.

Clearly, Ham values the defense and size of Brown over the shooting prowess and volume offered by Beasley. I figured the 6'5" Reaves would be moved to small forward while the 6'4" Beasley would remain as the team's starting shooting guard. Reaves is not the volume long-range sniper Beasley has been, though he has emerged in his sophomore pro season as a reliable three-point shooting option all the same.

Reaves is averaging just 3.3 triple attempts, but nailing a terrific 38% of those treys. That pales in comparison to Beasley's 7.8 three-point tries a night, of which he makes a mediocre 33.9%. Here's hoping Reaves can increase his output without losing his efficiency from deep.

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