After a summer filled with a lot of hype and expectations for the Los Angeles Lakers after a lot of solid and smart moves made by the team, the storied franchise has struggled in the first couple weeks of the 2023-24 NBA regular season, with the team dealing with a lot of injuries and some players in a slump.
One player many expected to take another step during the 2023-24 campaign was guard Austin Reaves, who received high praise for playing in the NBA playoffs last season and over the summer for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup.
Unfortunately for Reaves, it has been a rough start to the season for the up-and-comer, as he’s found it difficult to shoot with the same efficiency and take advantage of opposing defenses that used to take him lightly.
Reaves isn’t surprising anyone anymore, as he’s now on the scouting reports of opposing teams, which obviously makes the game more challenging for him.
Even though he’s started to break out of the first slump of his career in the NBA, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes that he may be struggling due to the lineup he’s in where he’s not handling the basketball as much, and that may need to change once everyone is healthy, via Lakers Daily.
"Austin Reaves is better than he's showing right now. … I don't think he's being put in the position necessarily where he can succeed because he succeeds when he's got the ball in his hand. He's starting with Russell and LeBron, those guys have the ball in their hand. They may… pic.twitter.com/krQXTAmzLq
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 9, 2023
With the Lakers only eight games into the season, there’s plenty of time for the team and Reaves to turn things around, as it is too early to panic or jump to conclusions about what’s happening with Los Angeles.
However, Reaves will be a player to keep an eye on moving forward because the pressure is starting to build.
NEXT: Analyst Points Out 1 Major Lakers Issue This Season
