Austin Reaves is having the best season of his NBA career. He and Luka Doncic have made the LA Lakers a force to be reckoned with. Despite LeBron James being out at the start of the season, the Lakers have been in great form, with Reaves and Doncic leading the way for the Gold and Purple.
Reaves is averaging 28.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in 16 games this season. He had his best game when he scored a career-high 51 points in the Lakers’ win over the Sacramento Kings.
Reaves has become a vital piece for the Lakers. Former NFL pro Shannon Sharpe has seemingly changed his opinion about Reaves from the end of last season.
Sharpe talked about Reaves’ outstanding season on his “Nighcap” podcast. Although Sharpe had suggested the Lakers trade Austin Reaves in the past, he now stands corrected and values Reaves above LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Shannon talked about the Lakers’ win over the Mavs, where Reaves led the floor with 38 points.
“Austin Reaves gonna be an All-Star. Austin Reed gonna be an all-star. I said it. But see this is why people work in the offseason. Austin Reaves was an undrafted free agent. Yeah. Look at the progression. Ben Simmons was number one drafted, number one overall. You saw no improvement. Zero. Look at Austin Reaves. Go back and look at him when he was a rookie and look at him now. You can tell he put the work in,” Sharpe said.
“You know what would happen? What if Ben Simmons went undrafted? Then it would have forced him to maybe put the work in as opposed to being comfortable because you were a number one pick. He was too high to recruit. He was number one,” Sharpe remembered the hype around Simmons.
“But Austin Reave’s got MVP Chad tonight with Luka and LeBron and AD on the court. AR is the first Laker with an 85 with a 35point game on 80 75% shooting. So he shot 80% from the floor and 75% from the three,” he concluded.
Shannon Sharpe’s $200M Advice For Austin Reaves & Lakers
In May, Shannon Sharpe discussed how it would be beneficial for all parties involved if the Lakers could secure a good trade deal involving Reaves. After the shocking trade of Luka Doncic, Sharpe spoke about how the Lakers need to strengthen their roster with the “one valuable piece that they have.”
Reaves’ four-year, $53 million deal seemed less to Shannon Sharpe. He suggested that AR could go to a team where he could get a $200 million deal, which the Lakers had no chance of matching.
“The Lakers can only pay [Reaves] so much. You’re gonna go somewhere and get a big payday anyway. You ain’t trying to stay with the Lakers when you get a $200 million and they can’t give you that,” Sharpe had explained.
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