Lakers News: Austin Reaves Continues to Express Desire to Play Point Guard
One of the best components about Austin Reaves' game that we saw come to life during the 2022-2023 season was his comfortability handling the ball. He was always very creative on offense, even during his rookie year, but two plays always stood out to me about his skillset and the first took place right after the trade deadline.
LA's newest additions were not eligible to play just yet and with limited scorers on the court and the Milwaukee Bucks facing off against them, Reaves had more freedom than usual and hit Giannis Antetokounmpo with a dribble combo that led to an easy layup.
This next play occurred during the second round of the playoffs versus the Golden State Warriors where the 25-year-old guard just happened to be in the zone.
Reaves got none other than Stephen Curry switched onto him and he took full advantage of the size mismatch and went right at him. He once again used a number of dribble moves to switch directions and forced enough contact to get an 'and one.'
Therefore, it makes a lot of sense why offseason reports show that the Lakers want to tap into more of Reaves' point guard potential. He is able to create his own shot at all three levels and is also a willing passer. The next step would be for him to get stronger as better defenders take him on but it appears that he is all for it.
On a recent appearance on the Full Send podcast, Reaves confirmed that he's confident he can run the point guard position when asked what's something he wants to prove about his game this coming season.
"Really just being more of a playmaker," said Reaves. "I feel like I could play the one at a high level. Just really proving that because that's the position I've played my whole career until college, my last couple of years. That's really it and just sharpening everything else."(Via Full Send Podcast)
Reaves will definitely have plenty of time to experiment his upgraded role next season and the years after that so let's see if head coach Darvin Ham lets him orchestrate the offense.
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