Austin Reaves' Improbable Journey Continues at Team USA Camp
The third-year Lakers guard has made it far in his career already but isn't settling for where he's at.
LAS VEGAS — Austin Reaves extracted the most he could out of the Los Angeles Lakers during restricted free agency negotiations this summer, prying a fourth-year player option and a 15 percent trade bonus out of the fire while netting a maximum-allowable four-year, $54 million deal. For Reaves, it was just another step in a journey that has seen him demonstrate his extraction skills time and time again.
On Thursday in Las Vegas, Reaves was greeted with a lengthy embrace by Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. It was another flashing neon sign in the desert that illustrated how far Reaves has come.
After having just three collegiate offers out of high school, Reaves’ choices were slim. In the end, he opted to attend Wichita State University as the Shockers were able to beat out South Dakota State and Arkansas State. However, Reaves only played for two years at Wichita State before then transferring to Oklahoma. After sitting out a year due to transfer rules, Reaves averaged 14.7 points in what was his redshirt junior season. In his final season in Norman, Reaves averaged 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists on 44.3 percent shooting for a Sooners program that went 16-11 and lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Following that season, Reaves went undrafted before signing a two-way contract with the Lakers. Six weeks later, the Lakers signed Reaves to a standard NBA contract that saw Reaves make the minimum. Reaves rewarded that faith by putting up 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 45.9 percent shooting as a rookie. The Arkansas native played in 61 games that season, starting 10 of them. Reaves capped off his rookie year with a 31-point, 16-rebound, 10-assist triple-double on the road to defeat the Denver Nuggets in overtime.
The 25-year-old built off the end of that season to average 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 64 games (22 starts) in 2022-23. Reaves shot 52.9 percent from the field and 39.8 percent on 3.4 three-point attempts per game. On top of that, Reaves started all 16 games that the Lakers played this past postseason, averaging 16.9 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.4 rebounds in the process. Reaves gave the Lakers stability, toughness, and a vast array of skills that helped them navigate some tumultuous times.
Now, Reaves is playing for Team USA. Some would say it was a full circle moment for Reaves to have his first practice with his new summer teammates exactly two years to the day that Reaves signed his two-way contract with the Lakers. But it’s that mindset and grit, which have been hallmarks of Reaves’ short tenure in the NBA, that will surely propel him to a lengthy career.
“I don’t know if I’d say impressed with myself,” Reaves told Russo Writes when asked if he’s allowed himself to be impressed with how far he’s made it in his career in such a short period.
“Because I kind of always felt like it was possible for me. Maybe if no one else believed it, I kind of believed it myself to go out there and figure it out. That was the main thing for me. I knew if I got an opportunity, I would go figure it out. If it was defense or diving on the floor for loose balls, I was gonna find a way to get on the court. So, for me, it was kind of believable for me but a lot of everybody else probably was sitting there wondering how it happened.”
To go from an undrafted player to making Team USA in just two years is a remarkable achievement. Considering his whole journey, it could make Reaves a blueprint for some players who feel like they don’t need to give up on their NBA career just because they weren’t drafted in the first place.
The grind is something Reaves enjoys, and he understands all too well that he’s not alone on this path from undrafted to difference maker. The Miami Heat, as Reaves points out, featured plenty of undrafted players and made the NBA Finals this past June.
“Yeah, for sure,” Reaves said when asked if he thinks other players can look up to him as a form of motivation for themselves.
“But, you know, me and then you got, what was it, four guys on Miami, maybe more, that were undrafted, went to the Finals, played a big piece of them getting there. Yeah, anytime you hear guys that go undrafted and kind of start paving their way in the league, you know, you kind of gravitate towards them if you don’t know them, just knowing the grind that it was and the kind of disrespect that you got, even if it was high school, college, whatever it was. It’s definitely always good to see that path kind of work for people.”
While outsiders might gripe with Reaves’ inclusion into Team USA, he’s the exact type of player who makes a team such as this come together. Reaves’ personality and do-whatever-it-takes-to-win style brings people in rather than alienates them.
On Thursday, as Team USA did post-scrimmage shooting drills, players broke off into smaller groups to get shots up. Reaves was in a three-man shooting group alongside Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets. The vibes, as the kids would say, were immaculate among the trio as they routinely were caught laughing amongst one another and even attempting to block each other’s shots from behind and then giggling about it.
While Reaves talked to a few reporters, Bridges and Johnson playfully ripped into him and caused Reaves to blush. Reaves, for as much as his talent on the court, is a connector off of it.
Before a game against the cross-hall rival LA Clippers this past season, Reaves was seen having an amusing exchange with teammate Wenyen Gabriel. After the two went through their ritual handshake in the hallway, Reaves looked around and then fired double middle fingers at Gabriel before snickering and running off down the hallway in childlike glee.
Reaves enjoys the style of game he plays, even if it’s, as he says, doing the little things that can swing a close contest; whether it’s diving on the floor for loose balls, tipping out an offensive rebound, setting screens, making the extra pass, etc. Reaves finds joy in the grind.
Many players in the past have used Team USA as a pivotal point in their careers to springboard themselves to greatness. While Reaves might not be relied upon to score a lot or create for himself this summer, he can surely take what he learns under the tutelage of a coaching staff that includes Steve Kerr, Tyronn Lue, Erik Spoelstra, and Mark Few, among others, to this upcoming season and potentially have an even better year than he did last season.
You certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility. After all, you haven’t been able to rule out Austin Reaves yet. And he’s going to keep extracting every bit he can along the way.