The first game of the 2025-26 NBA regular season is now less than a month away, and the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first preseason game is just over a week away. With the new campaign beckoning, ESPN started its annual ranking of the best players in the league.
Everyone knows that LeBron James and Luka Doncic will rank very high on that list. In the first half of the ranking, which was released this week, up-and-coming guard Austin Reaves came in at No. 60, which is 12 spots higher than he was a year ago.
As many Lakers fans know, Reaves recently turned down a contract extension and will, in all likelihood, decline the player option on his current contract to become a free agent next summer. That means that this season will have big ramifications for his future.
“Coming off a season in which he posted career-high averages in points (20.2), rebounds (4.5) and assists (5.8) while dutifully catering his game to first fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and then James and Luka Doncic on the fly, Reaves is betting on himself for 2025-26,” wrote Dave McMenamin. “Reaves and his representatives turned down a four-year, nearly $90 million contract extension offer from the Lakers in June, setting himself up to test unrestricted free agency next summer and sign a new deal worth well over $100 million.”
Not only did Reaves’ scoring average increase after Doncic’s arrival in February, but so did his shooting efficiency. For the entire season, he shot 46% from the field and 37.7% from 3-point range, but starting with the Slovenian’s debut on Feb. 10, Reaves shot 47.8% overall and 39.6% from 3-point land.
However, in L.A.’s five-game loss in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves, he put up 16.2 points per game and shot just 41.1% overall and 31.9% from deep. Many consider that just a blip on the radar, but some have suggested that it could perhaps be a sign of things to come as far as how Reaves will do in the postseason from here on out.