Austin Reaves is the clear-cut third best player on the Los Angeles Lakers behind LeBron James and Luka Doncic, so he’ll be relied upon heavily throughout the 2025-26 season.
James is reportedly targeting a mid-November return as he recovers from a bout of sciatica, meaning Reaves will be the No. 2 option behind Doncic for nearly the first month of the new year.
Reaves has shown he can handle more responsibility on the offensive end, though he’s not pretending that he can make up for James’ absence by himself, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it.