LeBron James Reflects on Seeing Austin Reaves' Potential, Fit With Lakers in Video

LeBron James knew early on that Austin Reaves had the potential to become a key player for the Los Angeles Lakers.

On the latest episode of the Mind the Game podcast, James explained that he saw Reaves "had a lot of wiggle" in his game to make him successful in the NBA.

James added that what he saw from Reaves in college at Oklahoma was a unique ability to "get into the paint" and "showed" NBA ability, so he "made it a point" to try forcing "something" into him during Reaves' first training camp to see what he could handle.

The Lakers signed Reaves to a two-way contract after he went undrafted in the 2021 draft. Even though the team finished 33-49 due to James and Anthony Davis being limited to 96 combined games, it did afford Reaves the opportunity to play more as a rookie than he probably otherwise would have.

Reaves didn't necessarily stand out in his first year, averaging 7.3 points on 45.9 percent shooting in 61 appearances, but it did set a foundation for what was to come.

The 2022-23 season saw Reaves hit a stride with 13.0 points on 52.9 percent shooting in 64 appearances. He became a full-time starter midway through his third season and has never gone back since.

Reaves currently ranks second on the team in scoring average (23.5 points per game) with a 64.3 true shooting percentage and 5.5 assists per game. He has made himself such a valuable piece for the Lakers that the expectation is he will opt out of his current deal this summer to sign a five-year max contract that could be worth up to $241 million.

The development of Reaves has been a huge reason that the Lakers currently find themselves in position to be the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. He has also built a strong on-court chemistry with Luka Dončić as they seem likely to be the long-term faces of Lakers basketball.

Despite having their season-long nine-game winning streak snapped on Monday with a loss to the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers (46-26) are still two games up on the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets for the third spot in the West.