Lakers' Austin Reaves Won't Play in Preseason Opener vs. Warriors, Darvin Ham Says

Austin Reaves won't be playing in Saturday's preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors, but that doesn't mean he won't be ready to start the regular season come October 24.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been limiting Reaves in camp so far, but head coach Darvin Ham said the team "kicked the training wheels off" in Friday's practice, per Spectrum SportsNet's Mike Bresnahan.

Before rejoining the Lakers, Reaves spent the summer helping Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the FIBA World Cup, where the 25-year-old led bench players in scoring while averaging 21.7 minutes per game.

Reaves signed a $54 million, four-year max extension with the Lakers in July.

Reaves is one of the four confirmed players who will be starting for the Lakers next season alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell. His return to full practice capacity is good news for a team hoping to contend for a title from day one of the 2023-24 season.

Even if Reaves' major role for Team USA this summer means the Lakers have limited use of him this preseason, his World Cup performance was worth the cost for a team that made a major investment in Reaves based on a relatively limited sample size.

Reaves only became a go-to starter in the last ten games of the Lakers' 2022-23 regular season. Then that role lasted throughout the playoffs, where Reaves became a key part of the Lakers' run to the conference finals.

Los Angeles is now hoping Reaves can help them on another deep playoff run. His offensive numbers with Team USA are a good sign he could repeat his 2023 postseason efforts— and that's well worth a few missed preseason games for the Lakers.

If Ham's comments about Reaves' usage at practice are accurate, he'll be ready to go by Game 1. All the Lakers have left to figure out is whether it will be Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt or Taurean Prince playing alongside him as the team's fifth starter, as noted by The Athletic's Jovan Buha.