LeBron James says watching Austin Reaves grow has been 'amazing'

[ASFN Admin]

Although many people, including fans, feel the Los Angeles Lakers have made plenty of questionable and even bad personnel moves over the last five years or so, one saving grace has been the development of Austin Reaves.

He came to the Lakers in 2021 as an undrafted free agent, and he quickly started to show his potential. Each season since his rookie year, he has upped his scoring output, and this season, he became a legitimate All-Star candidate by averaging 23.3 points and 5.5 assists a game.

Reaves is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, and Los Angeles obviously wants to keep him, as well as LeBron James. James said after the team was swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder that it has been "amazing" to watch the guard's development, via Silver Screen and Roll.

“Just seeing AR grow over these five years, it’s been nothing short of amazing,” LeBron said in his exit interview. “I mean, he’s just a hard worker. He loves the game. He wants to get better and he’s not afraid of constructive criticism, and, and I kind of knew that. I saw the talent, but I also saw that he was willing to put the work in and he wasn’t afraid of the moment.

“To see where he is today, it’s awesome. I knew he could be a big-time player for our ball club. I knew if he just got the opportunity and also he gained the confidence in himself that he knows he belongs in this league, that he could do some special things in this league. He’s, obviously, showed that.”

Reaves has previously said that James started to gain respect and trust in him during Game 1 of the first round of the 2023 playoffs. In that game, Reaves scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and propelled the Lakers to a 128-112 victory. As good a player as he already was at that time, he has come a long way since then.

It is essential that the Lakers keep Reaves on a reasonable contract this summer, or at least sign-and-trade him for a comparable player, if they are to win the NBA championship anytime soon. While he has underperformed at times during the playoffs over the last couple of years, he had two excellent games in the series versus the Thunder, and losing him in free agency would be a huge blow to the franchise.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James says watching Austin Reaves grow has been 'amazing'

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