Austin Reaves signed a 56M extension, wants the PG role, but his main goal surprises

The path that Austin Reaves has taken in the NBA is unprecedented, from undrafted to having a meteoric rise in two years, coming from a two-way contract to a standard deal, to rotation regular, to starter, to sign a 56 million max extension, and now to receive buzz as a potential All-Star candidate for the LA Lakers.

One of the keys to his success has been that he has been able to address a number of weaknesses in his game, one example being how his shooting has greatly improved, part of his recent success.

Reaves is currently playing with Team USA where he has a PG role, a position he wants to play with the Lakers too, With this in mind, the guard and the Lakers are addressing one of his remaining flaws, his availability. Minor injuries had Reaves playing 61 and 64 games out of the 82 from the regular season. And while he is still around for 75% of the regular season games, he has made the goal to improve on that aspect as well.

Reaves has a lofty goal for the 2023-24 season when it comes to his availability, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic: "One of Reaves’ goals going into next season is to play 82 games for the first time. After hitting a wall midway through his rookie season, he trained hard last summer to be better prepared for his sophomore year. Even so, he appeared to run out of gas at times during the playoffs — most notably between the end of an opening-round series against Memphis and the beginning of a second-round series against Golden State."

The work Austin Reaves is putting on to play the 82 games of the regular season

"He is working with the Lakers’ strength and conditioning team this offseason — including throughout his time abroad with Team USA — to better handle his increasing workload. He also is working to sharpen his ballhandling and playmaking as he prepares to run more of the offense next season. Reaves can shift between either backcourt spot, but says, “I want to get back to playing point guard a little more and what we did at the end of the year. I feel comfortable and like I’m able to do that.” Wrote Jovan Buha.