Lakers News: Darvin Ham Believes Young Guard Can Reach All-Star Heights

What is the ceiling for the young guard?

The Lakers entered the offseason with the plan to keep their core together and just add around the edges. They did just that and now bring back most of the team that just went to the Western Conference Finals. On the playoff run, they saw some real growth from some of their younger guys but most notably from second year player Austin Reaves. 

Reaves became the teams third best player and almost go-to player with his growth. The team unlocked some of his play-making abilities, allowing him to run the offense at times. And it worked out very well for them. 

They plan to continue using this skill from Reaves next season and hep grow it even more. His head coach Darvin Ham loved what he saw from the young player and recently expressed some high praise for Reaves. 

"I'm putting it on record right now: Austin Reaves will be an All-Star at some point soon." -- Lakers coach Darvin Ham to @ChrisBHaynes and me on Part II of his #thisleague UNCUT visit.

The rest of the pod from @CaesarsPalace just dropped ... listen here: https://t.co/ut3VdzUupi

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 13, 2023

Reaves went from averaging 7.3 points per game in his first season to 13 in his second and he also shot 39.8 from three-point land. And in the postseason, that increased as well. He upped his scoring to 16.9 points per game and he shot 44.3 percent from distance. When the lights were brightest, Reaves showed up in a big way.

This helped land him a new four-year contract, worth $56 million with LA and now will be with the team for the next few years. You could make the argument that it's up there with some of the best contracts in the league if Reaves continues his growth. 

If Reaves is able to became an All-Star level player, LA would be thrilled. He was an undrafted signing so his jump is already special for the team. But Reaves is determined to find success and LA is lucky to have him. 

He will be a key piece to the Lakers next season as they go for banner 18. After signing back with the team, Reaves took to social media and hinted the plans for next season.

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