Lakers News: Writer Believes Role Player Can Become 2024 All-Star

Is he on to something?

While your Los Angeles Lakers have been headlined by LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the past couple of seasons, rising star Austin Reaves is slowly becoming a household name in Los Angeles. 

The 6'5" shooting guard out of the University of Oklahoma truly broke out in the 2023 postseason, becoming an instrumental part of the Lakers' Western Conference Finals run.

The Arkansas native averaged 16.9/4.4/4.6 on 46.4/44.3/89.5 splits, becoming arguably the Lakers second-most consistent offensive player behind LeBron. 

As most players continue to improve year-over-year, especially in the early stages of their career, the expectation that Reaves can potentially become a dangerous third option for the Lakers, espeically if he improves his scoring output. 

Per Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report:

"Lakers [coach] Darvin Ham sees All-Star potential in Reaves, and it's easy to picture that coming to fruition as soon as this season. He ended last season on a tear (17.6 points, 5.5 assists and a 57.8/44.3/85.6 slash after the All-Star break), then had his confidence boosted twice this summer, first by his new [$53.8] million contract and later by playing a significant role for Team USA."

With such significant improvement from Reaves every offseason thus far, paired with him having played a big role with Team USA, it's, per Buckley, "easy to picture [All-Star potential]."

As I've mentioned before, a major X-factor for the Lakers this season is if Reaves can become a truly elite secondary creator behind LeBron. AD has unfortunately lost a step offensively (at least in the creation department), meaning that having a player who can step up and carry the load alongside LeBron is a must, especially given that Bron enters his 21st season. 

With the amount of shooting, depth, and star-power that this Lakers team has, Reaves is well-equipped to pull off an All-Star campaign. The Lakers' massive fan base and generous All-Star voting tendencies will also surely help, but the difficulty of making an ASG as a guard in the West will act as an obstacle. 

Names like Stephen Curry, Jamal Murray, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Devin Booker, De'Aaron Fox, and more, will all probably be surefire All-Star nods, making Reaves a potential injury replacement candidate, unless Lakers Nation steps up to a point in which he can out-vote a perennial All-Star level player. 

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