Lakers: Austin Reaves Led LA in an Important Stat This Season

Lakers rookie Austin Reaves led the Lakers in one key statistical category.

One silver lining from the Lakers dreadful season was the discovery of undrafted guard Austin Reaves. He's likely never going to make an All-Star team, but Reaves provided valuable minutes for the Lakers and might be a rotation piece for years to come. 

Although plenty of non-Lakers fans believe that Reaves' value is overstated, he did lead the Lakers in one statistic that's gaining more and more notoriety each season. StatMuse pointed out that Reaves led all Lakers players in plus-minus.

Austin Reaves led the Lakers in +/- this season despite starting only 19 games.

(Submitted by @AReevesMuse) pic.twitter.com/FZZNUjY6id

— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 16, 2022

Now, plus-minus isn't the end-all-be-all of basketball statistics. It can, at times, be a misleading stat, but it still reinforces the fact that Reaves should be part of the Lakers future moving forward. The numbers don't lie. Reaves had the highest plus-minus (+54) of Lakers players this past season. That includes players like Mason Jones and Mac McClung who played in a combined total of of five games. Malik Monk was second on the team (+53).

Reaves did seem to hit the rookie wall in the second half of the season shooting-wise. After converting 47.1% of his threes in December, he made just 27.6% of his threes from January to March. However, Reaves did cap off his season with the first 30-point triple double by an undrafted NBA rookie in league history. 

He finished the year averaging 7.3 points per game in 61 games played. 

Currently, Reaves is one of the six Lakers currently under contract for next year. That number should increase to eight once Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn pick up their player options.