Austin Reaves Has Been Great In FIBA ... Could He Be An All-Star?

[Phreak50]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

[yitur]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

Who is the 3rd?

[Up-And-Coming]

It's like half of the comments in this thread are from people who never watched Reaves play.

The guy put up 16.9 ppg on 61.6% TS along with 4.6 apg 4.4 rpg in 16 games during the playoffs including 21.3 ppg 5.3 apg against the Nuggets in the WCF. He was Lakers 2nd best player in some of their playoff games in his first playoffs... Come on man.

Eye test tells us that even though he is not a star, he can do so many things at a high level. He can shoot, handle the ball, score in isolation, create for others, draw fouls, plays good enough defence. He also has the intangibles. He is smart, understands the game, makes good decisions, and plays hard.

Will he be an all-star next year? Highly unlikely but there's no reason why he can't be an all-star in the future if he keeps improving.

The only argument against him right now is that maybe he wasn't on teams' scouting report so they weren't "prepared" for him. Though I don't know if that makes much sense since he put up 17.6 ppg on insane 73.4% TS and 5.5 apg in 23 games post all-star game. Then followed that up with a very strong playoff run. That's 39 games. Not a huge sample size but definitely enough to make you think that this is not a fluke.

We'll find out the full truth this year. If he can keep up this level of play, then 20/5/5 is easily doable for him. He might even do that this upcoming season. Heck, I'd argue that he has shown such great potential that even 25/5/5 is achievable for him in the future if he keeps improving.

Full honesty, I thought initially Reaves was just a Lakers hype product like THT, but the more I watched him the more I liked his game, and I started believing after seeing what he can do in the playoffs. Consider me a fan.

I watched Reeves a good deal and think that he is a really solid player. Everything you say about his qualities I agree with. Absolutely a guy who any team would like to have. And obviously playing on the Lakers gives him a boost for the fan voting.

That being said, I don't think most people arguing against him being an All Star are saying that he isn't a good player. Just that there is a log jam of guard talent in the west. Jamal Murray has never been an All Star. He did miss a year with his ACL, but he was averaging 21 a game on 59% TS that year after having just scorched the Bubble, and he didn't sniff the All Star game (he was 12th on the Western Backcourt list). Last year, he was even lower (though to be fair, he did start slowly). And Murray has looked ilke he is a solid 1b in the playoffs alongside the best player on earth. The West just has really good guard depth. Think of those years that prime Damian Lilliard was pouting because he didn't make it.

Now, I do think that the generational turnover is going to help him. Curry is a lock as long as he plays, but will retire at some point while Reeves is still in his prime. Chris Paul has already fallen off. Dame likely will (or be traded to the East) within Reeves' timeline.

So his roadblocks are:
Luka
SGA
Booker
Ant
De'Aaron Fox
Murray
Ja ( a year I could have considered him an absolute lock, now he'll likely miss this year, but I think he turns it around)


It was his first real run this year, but Reeves is 25 already. Even Murray and Booker are only 26 and everyone else is younger. He may improve more due to having less experience, but those guys all have a decent lead on him and aren't any older. They're also all the focal point player on their team (save Murray), and All Star teams always seem to reward that.

Austin Reeves strikes me as topping out as an Aaron Gordon-level player (level-wise, their games are obviously nothing alike). They are smart, hardworking, versatile players who do a whole bunch of things to help their teams win without being overwhelming in any one of them. Gordon was just the third best player on a good championship team. That's a really good player. But because they aren't going to be the focal point and because they do many things well rather than one thing transcendently, they're not going to get as much All Star attention as the guys on the list above.

I do think Reaves has a chance - largely because he's on the Lakers - but I think it's pretty low for the reasons I mentioned even though I totally respect him as a player.

You responded to him with something he wasn't talking about. He was talking about the plethora of posters who still completely downplay Reaves comparing him to Schroder/Mo Wagner/Rondae-Hollis Jefferson, claiming he's out of control, claiming D'Angelo's better, claiming Reaves is bad at defense, claiming he's a role player and an average to below-average one, incorrectly referencing his stats, claiming his FIBA stats are inflated, claiming Josh Hart is better and deserving of more "hype", comparing him to THT, claiming it's all hype based off him being a White Laker and his free-throws are manufactured even though he's always had an elite free-throw rate in High School, University of Oklahoma, NBA, FIBA, etc, claiming he's a fricken role player underdog who fans like because he reminds them of Rudy from Notre Dame, comparing him to Kenneth Faried, blaming his improvement on phantom calls, claiming he's an NBA plant and his "success" as an "avg to below avg role-player" is part of the agenda/narrative (contradictory and doesn't even make sense), again blaming his free-throw rate on illegitimate phantom Laker calls even though as aforementioned he's consistently had a high free-throw rate at all 4 levels of competition, claiming he's a nice 4th option and no better even though he was just the 3rd best player on a Conference Finals team and even building on that with his FIBA play, etc.

A couple have seemed to soften there stance on Reave's being a "hyped" Laker avg role player in comparison to how they were on other threads so we're starting to see some opinions on him shift in real-time but as evident in this thread that same narrative is still very prevalent.

[FrobeBryant]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

I mean he was the second leading scorer this last game on 2 FGA, doesn't get more efficient than that. I have a feeling if he shot more and ended with 20 you'd complain that he ball hogs too much so im pretty sure he's trash in your eyes no matter what he does.

[dockingsched]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

He played great, made some key plays at the end as part of the group team usa closed with. 12 pts was second leading on the team. When the game was on the line close in the 4th, Hali/bridges/Reaves/Edwards/jjj were who the coaches trusted.

To try to label today as quiet? Get real

[facothomas22]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

Who is the 3rd?

Very likely D'Angelo Russell would be the Lakers 3rd best player.

[dockingsched]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

Who is the 3rd?

Very likely D'Angelo Russell would be the Lakers 3rd best player.

Stop. As a D’Lo fan hoping for the best, he is not the consistent, well rounded player that Reaves is.

[facothomas22]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

Yeah it's funny that hardy anyone is mentioning how poorly Reaves have played in these last 2 games in the FIBA tournament. He looked less comfortable out there and became a turnover machine. This idea that Reaves is going to a 20/5 guy in the NBA is staight up laughable. The guy will be very lucky if he supass his averages last season for the rest of his career. The dude career is going much closer to Matthew Dellaveodova career than Manu Ginobili career.

[levon]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

He was the second leading scorer on the team today and the second best player behind Haliburton. Ant took 16 shots to score 10 points. Austin took 2 shots to score 13 points, and both of his shots were 3s, including the big one he made to put them up 7.

And I agree with you, this was one of his more quiet games. He's been overzealous on passing because he's trying to go for home runs, leading to turnovers. He doesn't really play like that on the Lakers, and a lot of it is getting accustomed to teammates and defenses. I'd like to see him dial that back.

And lol at 9 free throws being a negative. I thought his foul-drawing was just a product of refs rigging games for the Lakers?

It sounds like you're the one that's going to be disappointed, friend.

[levon]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

Yeah it's funny that hardy anyone is mentioning how poory Reaves have played in these last 2 games in FIBA. He looked less comfortable out there and became a turnover machine. This idea that Reaves is going to a 20/5 guy in the NBA is staight up laughable. The guy will be very lucky if he supass his averages last season for the rest of his career.The dude career is going much closer Mattew Dellaveodova career than Manu Ginobili

Which would make Tyrese Maxey much closer to Ronnie Price than Penny Hardaway.

[yellowknifer]

He reminds me a lot of Manu. Very skilled player with better athleticism than you think. Can do whatever you need from him. No weaknesses in his game at all. Obviously he's not elite at everything but he will give you effort and quality play in most situations on or off ball.

[facothomas22]

Who is the 3rd?

Very likely D'Angelo Russell would be the Lakers 3rd best player.

Stop. As a D’Lo fan hoping for the best, he is not the consistent, well rounded player that Reaves is.

What makes Reaves better than D'Angelo Russell? D'Angelo Russell shot 39.6% from the 3pt line on almost 7 attempts per game last season. Is Austin Reaves ever going to be able to do that or better? Very, very unlikely he will and it's not Reaves is so much better on defense or playmaking to the point where he would be able to close the gap between him and Russell based on those things. He's going to be on the scouting report this upcoming season. Teams are going to figure him out and I see Reaves struggling a lot with that. I don't even see him maintaining his 2nd half of the season production from this point forward.

[levon]

Very likely D'Angelo Russell would be the Lakers 3rd best player.

Stop. As a D’Lo fan hoping for the best, he is not the consistent, well rounded player that Reaves is.

What makes Reaves better than D'Angelo Russell? D'Angelo Russell shot 39.6% from the 3pt line on almost 7 attempts per game last season. Is Austin Reaves ever going to be able to do that or better? Very, very unlikely he will and it's not Reaves is so much better on defense or playmaking to the point where he would be able to close the gap between him and Russell based on those things. He's going to be on the scouting report this upcoming season. Teams are going to figure him out and I see Reaves struggling a lot with that. I don't even see him maintaining his 2nd half of the season production from this point forward.

Taylor Jenkins, Steve Kerr, and Mike Malone didn't "figure him out", but somehow the league is going to expose him this year.

Serious question: what did the Lakers do to you in your childhood fandom? Was it 2001? I'm not even gloating or trying to start something, but you're in so many Lakers threads with outlier bad takes and there's no way you're just watching the games and coming up with these in an unbiased way.

[Up-And-Coming]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

It wasn't the "hype" of two games but literally every single FIBA game (all 9 including exhibitions) sequentially after his 22 game post-All Star play after trading Westbrook and 16 game playoff run.

"He has gone quiet":

USA vs Jordan
Reaves had 8 points on 3-6 shooting (50%), 2-4 from 3 (50%) 2 reb 1 ast 1 stl 4 to in 18 min 53 sec with still a positive plus/minus

USA vs Montenegro
Reaves 12 points on 1-2 shooting (50%), 1-2 from 3 (50%), 9-11 from ft (81%) 2 reb 2 asts 3 stls 3 to

With Kerr and Spo's trust, earning the second most minutes on a team filled with All Stars and closing games while maintaining the highest efficiency. You chose the worst game of his and it wasn't even bad

With that logic, Jalen Brunson just posted an even worse 4 point game on 2/6 shooting (33%) with a -5 plus/minus rating so where's your Jalen Brunson is "below average" post/thread?!?

If he's the fourth best player on the Lakers then that means the Lakers are winning the championship and must have a super stacked team

[facothomas22]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

Yeah it's funny that hardy anyone is mentioning how poory Reaves have played in these last 2 games in FIBA. He looked less comfortable out there and became a turnover machine. This idea that Reaves is going to a 20/5 guy in the NBA is staight up laughable. The guy will be very lucky if he supass his averages last season for the rest of his career.The dude career is going much closer Mattew Dellaveodova career than Manu Ginobili

Which would make Tyrese Maxey much closer to Ronnie Price than Penny Hardaway.

You sir are comparing apples to oranges. In fact it's even worse than that. Tyrese Maxey was drafted in the 1st round and is currently 22 year old. He also has average17 points per game or more over the last 2 seasons now. Austin Reaves on the other hand was undrafted, is currently 25 years old, and has never averaged more than 13 points per game in his career. Far as Maxey being closer to Ronnie Price than Penny Hardaway, those are such horrible comparison and are just straw man. If you mean that Maxey will be closer to scub than all star/all NBA cailber player, this is also incorrect. With Harden more than likely gone, Maxey by default will become the 76ers 2nd option, which mean he will more chances of putting up huge numbers. which I think he's capable of doign. He also seems to have great work ethic as well. It wouldn't shock me if Maxey is 25/5 guy this year.

[facothomas22]

Stop. As a D’Lo fan hoping for the best, he is not the consistent, well rounded player that Reaves is.

What makes Reaves better than D'Angelo Russell? D'Angelo Russell shot 39.6% from the 3pt line on almost 7 attempts per game last season. Is Austin Reaves ever going to be able to do that or better? Very, very unlikely he will and it's not Reaves is so much better on defense or playmaking to the point where he would be able to close the gap between him and Russell based on those things. He's going to be on the scouting report this upcoming season. Teams are going to figure him out and I see Reaves struggling a lot with that. I don't even see him maintaining his 2nd half of the season production from this point forward.

Taylor Jenkins, Steve Kerr, and Mike Malone didn't "figure him out", but somehow the league is going to expose him this year.

Serious question: what did the Lakers do to you in your childhood fandom? Was it 2001? I'm not even gloating or trying to start something, but you're in so many Lakers threads with outlier bad takes and there's no way you're just watching the games and coming up with these in an unbiased way.

I don't care about the Lakers one way or the other way. I'm very neutral towards them. I'm simply sick and tired of people drumming up Austin Reaves to be something more than what he is or will ever be.

[levon]

I don't care about the Lakers one way or other way. I'm very netural towards them. I'm simply sick and tired of people drumming up Austin Reaves to be something more than what he is or will ever be.

Okay, now let's pull up your Anthony Davis takes?

[3toheadmelo]

So since the hype of two games. Yes two, he has gone quiet. So where is the 'Austin Reeves has been average' thread?

8pts, 1ast, 4TO
12pts (9 of those on free throws), 2ast, 3stl, 3TO

If you expect him to be anything better than your fourth best player on the Lakers you'll be disappointed.

Yeah it's funny that hardy anyone is mentioning how poory Reaves have played in these last 2 games in FIBA. He looked less comfortable out there and became a turnover machine. This idea that Reaves is going to a 20/5 guy in the NBA is staight up laughable. The guy will be very lucky if he supass his averages last season for the rest of his career.The dude career is going much closer Mattew Dellaveodova career than Manu Ginobili

are you aware that delladova never averaged more than 7 points per game in the playoffs/regular season? reaves averaged 17 in his first playoffs. this comparison is terrible.

[Phreak50]

He reminds me a lot of Manu. Very skilled player with better athleticism than you think. Can do whatever you need from him. No weaknesses in his game at all. Obviously he's not elite at everything but he will give you effort and quality play in most situations on or off ball.

Omfg.

Stop comparing an average player to a hall of famer.

He has nothing that Manu had. Nothing!

The narrative to make a white American a star is clear but stop this nonsense.

[3toheadmelo]

someone explain this delladova comparison because it makes zero sense to me when reaves is 10x the offensive player he is. plz explain