Austin Reeves is determined to avoid a sophomore slump.
After a surprisingly successful debut campaign, Reaves lakers Last year (try to name the top five without looking, it’s surprisingly difficult), the second-year guard has some key areas to improve for 2022-23.
First, Reeves knows he needs to improve his shooting from the 3-point line. What he identified early in the offseason I have been working on it ever since. As Reaves told Jake Fischer on the podcast Please Don’t Aggregate Thisshooting at a higher clip and, as a result, winning at a higher clip tops his list of goals for next season.
“I just want to play the game like I did last year, giving 110% possession and then shooting the ball well and winning more games. So the main thing is to win. That’s what everyone wants to do.That’s what everyone wants from us.That’s what we want to do.We want to win every game, so the team wins. I will do my best for whatever I can do.”
By the way, Reeves’ commitment to playing all out may have had unintended consequences for his jumper. As Alex Regla outlined at Silver Screen and Roll earlier this summer, Reeves was shooting an acceptable 39% on wide-open threes before the calendar shifted to 2022. In the new year, that number dropped to 29.6%. I hit the rookie wall, not just for the total number of players, but for the effort I put in on the court all the time. Getting stronger and improving his conditioning could have a huge positive effect on Reeves’ game overall.
Reeves also shared an interest in becoming a playmaker in his second year with Fisher, but admits the opportunity is limited given who he will be playing with.
“I’ve always played at the point guard position. And, you know, like when I play for the Bron, AD, and Russ teams, I’m very down-to-earth. I have the ball in my hands. Not really, but we want to expand that category a little bit more, to be a little more playmaker with them, or with a second unit.”
Expanding Reeves’ NBA skill set based on his college success is a reasonable goal, but the Lakers don’t seem to see Reeves the same way. On the same day Reeves expressed his desire to do more playmaking, Lakers re-sign Dennis Schrader, another guard with the ball in hand. In addition, athletic reported Reeves was in the shooting guard fight with Lonnie Walker IVAdditionally, Marc Stein tweeted that the Lakers see Reeves as a backup small forward behind LeBron James. Reeves’ desire to play more point guard had never been so firmly squashed just hours after he made his seemingly harmless remark.
Of course, point guard time could open up if the Lakers ripped the bandaid off and eventually traded Russell Westbrook, but as it stands, Reeves fits a different role in this current iteration of the team. is needed.
At least half of his goals are aligned with what the front office envisions him to be. That shooting rate is amazing for Reeves and the Lakers this year.
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