While there was a lot that went wrong for the Lakers at the start of last season, one of the moments that had quite a ripple effect came months prior. When Austin Reaves accepted a spot on the Team USA roster to play, it felt like a great opportunity for him to play at the international level.
Even if it was, it came at a pretty notable cost for the Lakers. Reaves entered the season not at 100% and battled through a rough slump to open the year. Ultimately, that led to him being benched and delayed the Lakers finding the starting five that led to them having so much success.
Obviously, there were a lot of other factors that were at play that led to the poor start, but Reaves’ slow start did not help things. Because of that start, Reaves didn’t make the jump most expected him to make in Year 3.
Heading into his fourth year, though, Reaves had a much more regular summer and, as a result, is coming into training camp in a much better position this year. In speaking with ESPN LA during Media Day, Reaves said detailed how he’s feeling physically after an offseason where he could focus on his body.
“I feel a lot better, a lot more healthy,” Reaves said. “I had opportunities to go really hard in the weight room and on the court as well. I feel like I’ve put myself in a really good position to hit the ground running.
“One of the main things was conditioning level. I’ve spent a lot of time running lines which sucks and nobody ever wants to really do it but you have to do those things to put yourself in a position to play both ends of the court.”
Reaves is the type of player that will put in the work behind the scenes, which was a talking point during his press conference on Monday. Despite seeing much more of his golf game than his basketball game this summer, he still had his priorities straight.
Austin did provide a little more insight into what he was working on when not golfing this summer. While speaking to Spectrum, he added why he focused so much of his work on getting strong in the gym.
“A lot of it was weight room to start,” Reaves said, “just getting as strong as possible and being in the best shape possible as well…going into this year was the main thing because at the end of the year, I felt like I got to a point where I was defending at a really high level but, on the offensive end, wasn’t shooting the ball as good as I could. So, just being in the best shape possible to play both ends every single night.
“I just love the grind of getting better at all aspects of the game. It’s not just one thing, just working on my game full.”
Offensively, there aren’t many glaring weaknesses to Reaves’ game. He’s a legitimate three-level scorer who improved as a playmaker last year, too. And while there’s strides to be made defensively, that’s hard to improve on in an empty gym during the summer.
Reaves is positioned for a really big season. After settling in as a legitimate NBA player, he now has had a normal offseason where he could train and work on his body and game.
At the risk of being let down a second year in a row, it really does feel like Reaves is in a perfect spot for a big season in purple and gold.