With LeBron James gone, the Los Angeles Lakers are now building in earnest around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Even this past season, Doncic and Reaves were their first and second scoring options, respectively, and the writing seemed to be on the wall as far as James’ future with the team.
Now the pressure will truly be on Reaves to be the type of second star every championship team in the NBA needs. He averaged 23.3 points and 5.5 assists a game this past season, but some are still doubting he can live up to that pressure, especially after two straight subpar postseasons.
Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton said in an exclusive one-on-one interview with DJ Siddiqi of ClutchPoints that Reaves can be the Lakers’ version of Scottie Pippen, the seven-time All-Star forward and a Hall of Famer who was Michael Jordan’s sidekick when the Chicago Bulls won six titles in the 1990s.
“I don’t know, a lot of these guys are, they’re just some players that that’s going to fill in again,” said Payton in a one-on-one interview about the Lakers. “Same thing with the Chicago Bulls (back in the 90s), you’re building around Luka, that’s what you’re building around. Reaves is going to be your Scottie Pippen, so it’s just like with us, with Seattle, it’s me and Shawn Kemp, it’s Luka and Reaves. They’re building around their guys, and they’re trying to put people around these dudes that is going to do their job, get a rebound, make a big-time shot, and then let these guys be Batman and Robin.”
One can start to see the outlines of a potential championship roster on the new-look Lakers. The team traded for center Walker Kessler and signed guards Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton, big men Sandro Mamukelashvili and Kevon Looney and forward Ziaire Williams in free agency.
Ironically, what the team doesn’t have is a starting two-way forward with athleticism, which is basically what Pippen was for those Bulls teams. He consistently averaged in the high teens or low 20s in scoring and was one of the greatest off-ball and on-ball defenders ever, as well as the Bulls’ de facto ball-handler and facilitator to the extent of being a point forward.
Reaves could very well increase his scoring average yet again this coming season. But he’s regarded as a weak defender, and Los Angeles lacks plus defenders on the perimeter, other than Grimes and perhaps Williams.
Back in his day, Payton was an outstanding defender who would lock up opposing guards on the regular. With career averages of 16.3 points, 6.7 assists and 1.8 steals a game, he was one of the best guards in the 1990s not named Jordan, and he kept the Seattle SuperSonics near the top of the NBA for most of that decade.
Of course, Payton spent the 2003-04 season with the Lakers alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone. It turned out to be a very frustrating season that was marred by lots of injuries and infighting, and it ended with the team falling apart in the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons. Two years later, Payton finally got his ring as a member of the Miami Heat.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Gary Payton: Austin Reaves can be Lakers’ Scottie Pippen
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
