Lakers' Austin Reaves is cementing himself as Luka Dončić's long-term co-star with his historic start

Austin Reaves didn't even technically arrive on the Los Angeles Lakers as a fully rostered player. His initial contract as an undrafted free agent was a two-way deal. A strong summer got him bumped up to a standard deal and roster spot before his 2021-22 rookie season began, but that set the stage for what the beginning of his career has looked like.

Every year, Reaves is asked to prove himself. Can this undrafted rookie play on a team with championship hopes? Can he be the third-scorer and secondary after the Lakers traded away Russell Westbrook? Can he be a full-time starter? A core part of a contender?

He's met every challenge. His growth has been remarkably linear. His scoring has jumped 5.7, 2.9 and 4.3 points per game with each successive season. His assists grew similarly over his first three seasons before plateauing last year, when he suddenly had to share the floor with two Hall of Famers. One of those Hall of Famers, LeBron James, hasn't yet played this season. Frankly, Reaves has been so good in Year 5 that it might now be incumbent upon James to adjust to him. 

Through five games, Reaves is averaging 34.2 points and 10 assists per game. On Wednesday, he sent the same Minnesota Timberwolves team that bottled him up in the first round last season home on a game-winning buzzer-beating runner. Despite scoring 28 points in the victory, he's been so hot lately that his scoring average went down after the game. 

At this point, his successful five-year partnership with James is a lesser concern. Really, it's the other Hall of Famer that matters here, because everything the Los Angeles Lakers have done since acquiring Luka Dončić has seemingly been to land exactly the sort of co-star Reaves is becoming.

They've hoarded cap space for max free agents. They've preserved draft picks knowing they'll have three first-rounders to deal this offseason. Renouncing the Mark Williams trade was primarily a medical issue, yes, but it's hard not to view it as an asset-allocation matter as well. Why take this sort of risk on an injured role player when those same chips could be cashed in for someone far better down the line? With Reaves headed for unrestricted free agency in 2026, he could even have potentially been signed-and-traded out in a package for such a bigger fish. It was incumbent upon him to prove he was too good to be shopped in that matter.

And if 34 points and 10 assists per game thus far isn't enough to do that? Well, nothing will be. The individual stats don't quite do him justice. Look at how well Dončić played in his first two games with just Reaves and no James by his side: 46 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game on 62% shooting from the floor. Not only is Reaves ascending, specifically, but he's doing so in ways that are inherently beneficial to Dončić. He's a good enough on-ball creator to take pressure off of him. And he's not so ball-dominant that he'll get in Dončić's way. His foul-bating stops the clock, giving Dončić extra breathers. His shooting spaces the floor for him. The partnership, thus far, is everything the Lakers could have hoped it would be.

And if that's the case, well, it changes quite a bit about how the Lakers can approach building this team in both the short- and long-term. If there's less of an imperative to hoard assets for another superstar in the future, for instance, those assets could be spent in the present on badly-needed defensive role players. Doing so would allow the Lakers to capitalize on that other legend they already have, James, who doesn't seem all that likely to be around much longer. Trading picks for win-now help doesn't compromise the Dončić timeline as much if the Lakers believe they already have their second star in Reaves to keep beside him for the long haul.

The hardest thing to do for a prospective champion is get the true superstar. The Lakers pulled that particular rabbit out of their hat in February. They've acted as though the next step is the logical, linear progression: get him the sidekick. But if the early portion of this season is any indication, the sidekick is already here. Finding those two players is the hardest part, because as Dončić showed in Dallas, just give him one other All-Star-caliber offensive teammate and he can take you to the NBA Finals. 

The Lakers have seemingly done so. They may still try to get another, of course. These are the Lakers we're talking about, after all. If they think they have any prayer at a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokić as 2027 free agents, they're not going to punt that hope away. But there's no longer that desperation, that fixation on potentially wasting a year or more waiting for the chance to trade for something they thought they needed. Austin Reaves is an All-Star now. He and Dončić can be the foundation of a championship-level offense. And if that's the case, all that remains is building a defense worthy of their gifts. Dallas did so with far less draft ammunition to spend in a far less desirable market. While the Lakers still have a ways to go, the path to building their eventual winner has never looked cleaner.