Austin Reaves’ college basketball journey started at Wichita State in 2016 before he transferred out and forever became a member of the Oklahoma Sooners family. He sat out a year before being able to play because the transfer portal had not been created in 2018.
His Oklahoma career saw him average 16.3 points per game in two years for the Sooners and he started all 56 games during his tenure. He chipped in 4 assists and 5 boards a game as well. He made plays against tough teams and future pros.
After his redshirt senior year in Norman, Reaves waded into the NBA waters with no guarantee he’d be drafted. That’s exactly what would happen too. Reaves went undrafted and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on a two-way contract. In the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League, Reaves played well averaging 6.6 points, and 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 steal in 22.2 minutes.
Reaves’ summer league performance earned him a two-year contract. One with partial guarantees for year one and a team option in year two.
The former Sooners guard made his NBA debut on October 22, 2021 for a Lakers team in need of a spark and considerable help in the backcourt. The Lakers were dealing with injuries and unproductive rotation players for a struggling Lakers team expected to contend for the Western Conference, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
He’d post 8 points in his debut against the the Pheonix Suns. In December, after getting comfortable with his role at the NBA level, Reaves began to stand out.
Reaves dropped 15 points, on 5-of-6 shooting from three, grabbed 7 rebounds, and hit a game-winning 3-pointer in a 107–104 victory over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
For the remainder of the season, Reaves battled inconsistent minutes despite his steadying presence for a Lakers team that was broken mentally and physically. Los Angeles suffered a number of injuries to star players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis in addition to Kendrick Nunn who projected to start for…
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