{"id":53190,"date":"2023-08-31T11:00:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T15:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=53190"},"modified":"2023-08-31T09:12:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T13:12:58","slug":"will-austin-reaves-be-an-all-star-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/08\/31\/will-austin-reaves-be-an-all-star-next-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Austin Reaves Be an All-Star Next Season?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How good is Austin Reaves<\/strong><\/a>? How you answer that question probably guides how you answer this question: Will Lebron return to the promised land? I\u2019m here to tell you that Austin Reaves is no longer a fun secret-weapon; he is a legitimate low-level all-star talent; In fact, he will be an All-Star next season. Yeah, I said it. I also said \u201clow level\u201d to give myself room to backtrack. I’m hopped up on Peach Celsius and don\u2019t plan on walking any of this back!<\/span><\/p>\n

Will Austin Reaves Be an All-Star Next Season?<\/h2>\n

Proof is in the Pudding<\/h3>\n

Austin Reaves’ regular season line last year is underwhelming: He averaged: 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assist. His shooting splits are where it starts to get interesting. He shot 52.9% from the field, 39.8% from three, and 86.4% from the line. On top of this, he had an otherworldly true shooting percentage of 68.6%<\/a>. That\u2019s good for 4th in the entire NBA\u2013and there\u2019s no other guard in the top 10! <\/span><\/p>\n

And keep in mind the tumultuous regular season the Lakers had. It was riddled with a Russell Westbrook <\/strong><\/a>\u201clack of variety\u201d show, huge midseason trades that transformed the team, AD\u2019s injury issues, and a race to make the play-in that had the Lakers playing what amounted to playoff games for the last three weeks of the season. Taking this all into account, and considering that AR didn\u2019t really begin to start consistently until the midseason mark, these numbers are exciting. And in the playoffs there was a continual (and rapid) elevation, showing us how effective Austin Reaves really is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not forget the national media midseason. No one expected the Lakers to come close to sniffing a Western Conference Finals. The Lakers were mocked as a carnival for geriatrics. Aging stars imploding, giving the world one last show of disastrous proportions. If it wasn\u2019t the Nash\/Dwight Sports Illustrated cover, it was close. And then Pelinka unbuttoned his far too tight blazer and took a gamble. Two sharp trades later and an injection of youth minutes and the Lakers found a new look<\/a> and a new lease on life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AR Has Arrived<\/h3>\n

In this transitionary period, Austin Reaves ascended. His rise gained momentum through the playoffs and revealed a hidden gem. He had waited for his moment and was, evidently more ready for it than anyone ever expected. At least, anyone on the outside. Inside the team, apparently they \u201cbeen knew\u201d. Listen to this <\/span>LeCap<\/span><\/a> interview for further evidence. Let\u2019s revisit that playoff run though. When the bright lights were on, Austin Reaves improved in every statistical category across the boards. He averaged 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.6 assist,\u00a0 and shot 46.4% from the field, 44.3% from 3, and 89.5% from the line. Top 15 in TS%<\/a> in the playoffs and top 10 if you account for players that played more than 6 games. I ask you\u2026who is Austin Reaves? How good is Austin Reaves?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll answer actually. No cliffhangers. I\u2019d say good to very good. I hope that\u2019s not too straightforward. He\u2019s a confident ball handler. He\u2019s magician-like, often setting people up, using his body to create space, dribbling with purpose to create angles, etc. He has a hint of Nash, a hint of Ginobili and a dash of Paul Pierce. He\u2019s more physical, he\u2019s more savvy, he\u2019s more confident, than you expect. He knows how to be effective and get the most out of a possession, plus, has the skills to ISO when all else fails. His IQ is high and there\u2019s no need to take it from me, he passed the eye test. And I\u2019m not looking through my eyes, I\u2019m looking through the eyes of a savant and arguably the best player of our time, if not ever (aforementioned \u201cLeCap\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

LeBron Passes the Baton<\/h3>\n

In the playoffs, we saw something we haven\u2019t seen LeBron do since he played with Kyrie or Wade, he took a step back. For AUSTIN REAVES!\u00a0 In real time we saw the floor general cede the floor. It\u2019s one thing to impress a national audience, it\u2019s something else to be handed the reins from the GOAT.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And when handed the reins, Reaves demonstrated vision paired with pace that spreads\u00a0 confidence to the team. He makes the right decision more often than not and when he makes the wrong decision he keeps his dribble alive and finds a way to get a bucket. The man does a little bit of everything really well. The spice cabinet is full.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mamba Mentality<\/h3>\n

Well yeah, all this sounds great BUT ALSO it\u2019s not even the best part. The glue to his game is his <\/span>demeanor<\/span>! His ancestor, The Mamba, lives in his soul. That\u2019s actually what makes him great! He\u2019s not an elite athlete. He\u2019s not especially fast although he\u2019s quicker than people realize. He looks like a junior senator from Nebraska interested in\u00a0 \u201ccompromise\u201d.\u00a0 Physically, he\u2019s mediocre. Yet\u2026yet! Mentally. He\u2019s a cold blooded killer. Furthermore, Reeves plays with a level of determination and lack of fear that inspires confidence in others. He\u2019s accountable, a steady hand and contributor that doesn\u2019t take plays off and doesn\u2019t get down on himself. He doesn\u2019t complain about calls. Austin doesn\u2019t argue with teammates, and is a steady and unshakable force.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/h3>\n

AR has the intangibles that give a player an edge. A player\u2019s greatness is often defined at the margins and he has a small encampment settled out there. Austin Reaves will be a low level All-Star next season. Therefore, his stats may not reflect it on a team with a unicorn and a unibrow but all of the talent is there. Give him the rock and watch what he do wit\u2019 it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How good is Austin Reaves? How you answer that question probably guides how you answer this question: Will Lebron return to the promised land? I\u2019m here to tell you that Austin Reaves is no longer a fun secret-weapon; he is a legitimate low-level all-star talent; In fact, he will be an All-Star next season. Yeah, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4880,"featured_media":53286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-lakers"],"modified_by":"Mike Schretter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4880"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}