Lakers News: An Update On Austin Reaves's Long-Term Lakers Future

Do the Lakers want to keep one of the lone bright spots from their miserable 2021-22 season?

In the newest HoopsHype Podcast, Michael Scotto suggests that both second-year shooting guard Austin Reaves, who turned a lot of heads as an undrafted upstart out of the University of Oklahoma last season, and your Los Angeles Lakers would like to stick together after Reaves's minimum contract with the team expires in 2023. He is currently signed to a $1.6 million non-guaranteed deal for this season.

The 6'5" guard flashed plenty of promise during his rookie season in Los Angeles, though the rest of the team disappointed. The Lakers finished with a 33-49 record and missed the play-in tournament in the Western Conference, a sad reality that became obvious near the end of the season. 

In 61 games, the 24-year-old averaged 7.3 points on .459/.317/.839 shooting splits, plus 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.5 steals. He proved to be one of the Lakers' better defenders on a team that was desperate for any help on that end of the floor in its backcourt.

So one has to take Reaves's performance last year with a grain of salt. How much of his intriguing output was a result of him merely outperforming several veteran teammates who might be out of the league this season?

This season, Reaves will be playing alongside several players more of his ilk -- young, with defensive upside and more modest offensive output.

At the right price, the young guard is certainly worth a look beyond this season. It will be fascinating to see how he performs within Darvin Ham's system, alongside an almost-entirely different roster beyond stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis (and, perhaps, Russell Westbrook?).