NBA
Lakers’ SG Austin Reaves in the first undrafted player in team history to average 30 points over a two-game span
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated23 Mar 2023
The 2022-23 regular season is quickly coming to an end and the LA Lakers need every win they can get at this point. Currently, the Lakers are tenth in the West with 36-37, but they are also on a two-game win streak. With LeBron James still out for the Lakers and no real answer for when he will return, the Lakers have asked others to step up. Answering that call over the last two games is a second-year pro, Austin Reaves.
He is the first undrafted Laker in franchise history to average 30 points over a two-game span. Reaves played a smaller role last season for LA and has been reliable this year for head coach Darvin Ham. That’s why he was slotted into the starting lineup last night and made a huge impact on the team’s win vs Phoenix.
At tenth in the Western Conference, California Sports Betting sites have the Lakers at (+1800) to win the Finals this season.
Austin Reaves is the 1st undrafted player to average 30 points over a 2-game span for the Lakers in the Modern Draft Era (since 1966). pic.twitter.com/OUj8Eum6x8
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 23, 2023
Austin Reaves’ play this season should earn him a nice contract offer from the Lakers
In Sunday’s 11-105 win vs the Orlando Magic, Austin Reaves had a career-high 35 points. He went just 1-4 from deep but was an impressive 16-18 from the free-throw line and was the only Laker to score 20 or more points that night. After his dominant outing over the weekend, head coach Darvin Ham gave Reaves the start last night vs Phoenix.
He responded with 25 points and 11 assists for his first double-double of the season and the Lakers’ second-consecutive win. The team is in jeopardy of missing the play-in tournament and they need every win they can get from here on out. There are just nine regular-season games left for the Lakers this year.
NBA insider Shams Charania recently reported that the Lakers might offer Reaves a nice contract once this season is over. He says the most the team could offer him is a four-year, $50 million contract and that’s not too bad for an undrafted player after just two full seasons. Charania says that this type of deal is “increasingly looking like his marketplace.”
