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Par Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Journaliste sportif
Paired up with Luka Doncic at the end of the season, Austin Reaves has not escaped criticism regarding the Slovenian’s defense. He recently opened up on this point with a somewhat contrarian viewpoint.
While his managers are actively looking to strengthen their squad this summer, his seat looks ejectable for the first time in his career. In any case, Austin Reaves’ name has featured in numerous trade rumours, as he has a high market value. However, it would appear that he has no desire to pack his bags and wants to continue his career alongside Luka Doncic.
Austin Reaves calms things down about Luka Doncic
In a recent interview with Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane, Reaves spoke not only about his personal situation, but also that of his franchise. And according to him, the backcourt pairing he forms with Doncic deserves to remain unchanged, as it proves so dangerous for opposing teams in his eyes:
Austin Reaves: Our combination causes so much chaos offensively.
I wouldn’t go so far as to put myself in the same category as Luka, knowing that he’s one of the three best players in the NBA, but we form a nice duo in the backcourt and we’re both capable of making decisive passes and sowing chaos in the opposing defense. The same goes for Bron. I think the other teams are going to find it hard to contain us, and we can create good shots on every possession.
While both men are formidable offensively, they have more difficulty defending. This was particularly noticeable during the playoff series against the Timberwolves. Reaves, for his part, is not panicking on this subject, and is even reassuring:
Austin Reaves: Defensively, we just had to give it our all mentally on every play.
Right after the Luka trade, I think for a month or two, we were one of the top five defenses in the league, so we showed we could defend well. We just need to keep working on our systems and understanding what we need to do, be smart about it all.
It’s therefore out of the question for AR15 to criticize his backcourt partner’s defense, as he places more importance on his team’s collective efforts:
Austin Reaves: People like to exaggerate these things. I think that to be a good defense, it’s not all about one player’s ability to defend well. Everyone has to rotate well (…) and be connected on every action.
