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EatMyShortzZzZzZ

Its entirely possible we dont even make the play in. And all because of two games we should have won but lost due to dumb decisions and bad play. I still say the smart move at this point is to shut down lebron for the season and hope hes still playing at or near an elite level next year instead of being 1st round exits and risking further injury.


crictb12

It’s a tough decision to shutdown Lebron. If I’m Lebron at 38, how many trips do you think he is going to have to playoffs after this season, 1 or 2. So, I think he should come back. We need Lebron to make play-in now. If he can come back for March 31st game @Minnesota, we can go 2-2 for the next 4 games before his comeback and 4-2 after his comeback to get to 41-41 and make playin.


DanLogar

Is Reaves gonna be considered for the MIP award? He’s shown so much improvement from his rookie season.


subzero12320931

It sucks we gotta rely on Lebron at age 38. AD been playing like a role player. Theres nothing wrong with that just that hes being overpaid by alot.


mo3mon3y

he got 35 and 17 exactly one week ago. against the pelicans.


SaucyRanger2306

Listen I know everyone is pessimistic but just looking at our remaining games, there is reason to have hope. I think to secure a play-in spot, lakers would likely need to finish at least 6-4. Obviously, it’s easier said than done but every single game is winnable. We got suns w/o KD, OKC coming off a back to back, two games vs tanking jazz, rockets, and bulls at home. And then clippers and suns near the end in which they will likely be resting players by then due to having clinched a playoff spot. Just gotta take care of business and we should be fine.


Ihopetheresenoughroo

That's what we said about all the easily winnable games that we LOST. And if the Jazz beating the Celtics and the Kings in the past few days is "tanking" then I don't want to know what competing looks like.


nerdymen242424

> two games vs tanking jazz Same team that beat the Kings rn


SaucyRanger2306

This jazz team also lost to a spurs team that was on a 16 game losing streak a couple of weeks ago.


foozbinjex

These are the repercussions of trying to speed run a contender with only a third of the season left to go. Failing to close out games, streaky offense, living and dying by every loss, not being able to withstand injuries to the roster. Let's put things in perspective for a second, this season was always a punt. It was never realistic to moonwalk into the 6th seed with half a new squad and all the carry over from the first 2/3rds of the season. Not that it was impossible but it was never probable. If we end up making it into the playins then fantastic, if we dont then let's run it back next season with a full training camp and no vampire in the locker room day 1.


SeaworthinessThis227

I’m hoping Phoenix might decide to rest a couple of their starters for the game on Wednesday. It’s probably unlikely since they are barely holding on to the 4 seed.


crictb12

They don’t even have 5 starters on their roster. Just hope Booker has a bad shooting night and we will be ok.


calvinleeboi

Don't know why people are calling lakers missing the playoffs a W. Sure we get a decent draft pick, but wasting another year of lebron is disgraceful.


crictb12

Ppl here are hoping that next year will be any different than this year. We have an aging star and an injury prone one. Both are going to miss 40 games every year. We are a perennial play-in team for now.


Top-Consequence-911

This team is going nowhere in the playoffs anyway without LeBron at 100%. Anthony cannot be relied upon, and neither can Ham. I'm ready for this era to end.


crictb12

You are getting downvoted for no reason. We are going to win the championship this year from 10th seed. See what I did there😜


saraza1270

Lakers season will probably be over tomorrow with losing to Suns. We don’t deserve to be in the payoffs. Start from the top. Jeanie needs to be gone and AD either needs to shed 20 pounds this offseason or get his body right otherwise, he will be gone too.


Top-Consequence-911

He should be gone regardless. He's going to need offseason surgery on his foot, he will get out of shape, will start the season sluggish, and we will deal with this bullshit all over again.


saraza1270

Completely agree. Thing I hate about AD is not because he is an injury prone. He has top 3 talents in the league yet has such a low motor that he can’t bring it every night like Giannis. I would rather have a palace with less talent than AD but bring 110% every night. He is so frustrating to watch to say the least. Another thing is that his jumper usually pretty much automatic and three point is respectable but after the bubble championships, he has regressed every year ever since.


Top-Consequence-911

The downvotes are heavy, but no one can name a thing AD has added to his game since 2020 except weight.


saraza1270

Exactly! I know I would get downvoted but I don’t care. I tell how I see. Only thing AD added his game is becoming an injury-prone. Lol


VGstuffed

This team has no one to blame but themselves for this mess. I can’t even feel bad for them, we should be over .500 right now


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VGstuffed

He has a lot of problems, but i can’t blame him for all of this the way the entire sub does. Dude’s a rookie coach who was dealt a crap hand with the roster at the start of the season and has made a bunch of rookie mistakes. I can blame him for not using time-outs property and not benching players when they’re clearly on a crap streak though but as far as I’m concerned, the decision making of the players cost us the easy to win games that would’ve brought us over 500. The terrible turnovers from these past few games are going to catch up to us, if they haven’t already and a lot of them are due to our players forgetting how to catch, dribble, or getting a mental block when it comes to FTs. Honestly in the past few games, we should’ve won those but our players choked and/or chose the dumbest path when it came to their actions. The Dallas game was literally handed to us on a platter, but none of our players could make FTs and Anthony Davis randomly decided to foul and quit defense in the last 10 seconds.


vandiger

Its Ham, its the lack of urgency with this FO, a cheap owner, and AD not playing as the number 1, lots of things to reflect on.


mcaba004

It’s easy for the Jazz bum players to play out of their minds when there is absolutely no pressure and/or expectations lol and teams go into those games taking them lightly. When teams play the Lakers it’s a different level of competition for them. It’s the nature of the beast, and like we’ve been saying, Lakers can only blame themselves for the position they’re in right now.


alisj99

Self inflicted wounds. Should have been up there by now. Should be 38-34 not 35-37. Fuck.


Ihopetheresenoughroo

Why are the Jazz acting like this?.. lol they're so annoying


Yungafrica2205

Kings know what their doing smart


ChrisRhodes789

So in the last week the Jazz beat the Celtics & Kings at home.. & we lose to the Rockets & the Mavs(without Luka) That’s why we ain’t going to the playoffs…


ryanlinr2

Annnnnnd we're back to the 11th seed


ChrisRhodes789

Thanks for showing up Western Conference Player Of The Week Sabonis… Fucking Kris Dunn outscored him.. LMAO..


RedCarNewsboy

Reminder that we face the Jazz two times in our remaining schedule. It will be up to us no matter what.


subzero12320931

Damn lol


KaseyOfTheWoods

Watching other teams’ local commentary always makes me appreciate Stu and Billy Mac so much. There’s no winning with this game, both the Jazz and Kings crews are awful


JesseRulesCali

The jazz just beat the Celtics and the kings schedule doesn't mean crap.


mcaba004

Well….now things really get interesting. Let’s see if AD and the team can step up when the pressure is even higher lol


Ugacy

Back to the 11th seed 😞


asdev24

Jeez 36 year old Rudy Gay chipping in 11 for the jazz. Everyone and their mother hooping against us directly and indirectly


subzero12320931

Kings actually legit lol


bryanx92

Kings comeback tho


Flow8405

great that they are motivated to compete hard given the battle for #2 seed


asdev24

Wolves and thunder need to fuck off


Top-boy-og

Absolute try-hards smh


Presidentclash2

Can someone please explain why the Lakers handling of rookies is not malpractice. What I’m talking about is the fact that they only give 2-yr contracts. I have no issue paying reaves but the Lakers insistence on short term 2-yr rookie deals takes away the teams power. Why are we paying Austen reaves this summer instead of a normal rookie contract in which we pay him next summer or the summer after. Look what happened with ThT. The reason the Lakers had to choose THT over Caruso was because THT was given a 2-year contract that expired when we needed to pay caruso. Austen reaves is a good talent but you always risk letting your guys go because you have to pay a rookie earlier then needed!


Flow8405

Maxi Kleber 0-3 from field in 33 minutes. of course


ryanlinr2

Every bum ass just goes off against Lakers damm


mcaba004

Clockwork 🤣


bryanx92

Bum ass knicks with Brunson back couldn’t beat the twolves at home without ant??


KaseyOfTheWoods

What do you mean? Everybody knew Taurean Prince was going to pop off…


scezmoneysniper

Team needs to handle their own business and not worry about what’s going on at this point. Go win games. Nobody should have ever counted on any of these teams throwing in the towel…


Flow8405

how are the jazz resting lauri and up 16 at halftime vs the kings? cursed


mcaba004

Easy playing with no expectations and/or pressure lol


Flow8405

Bron missing the playoffs 2 years in a row would be so fucked. come on lakers


lakeshowyoo

We don’t deserve these games to go our way lol


Accomplished_Duty_84

Trashcan Knicks letting prince drop 35 on them, while shooting 93% smfh.


gentyent

Randle has 54 points and they're gonna lose to the KAT and Ant-less Wolves. Give me a fucking break lmao


subzero12320931

They let Taurean fucking Prince score 35pts. Smh


ChrisRhodes789

Lol.. 0 for everything the last 2 nights?! WTF..


Ugacy

Wow we might actually not make the play in now every team decided to start actually hooping. Another uear of no lebron in the playoffs 💔


Accomplished_Duty_84

They have nobody to blame but themselves. I’m not sad at all. We had our destiny in our own hands, that’s what you get for losing to the rockets and choking to Dallas.


KingJTt

Nobody to blame but ADs soft ass. He could never be the number 1 option even with decent role players around him


Accomplished_Duty_84

Yep, the dude has zero motor, and can easily be schemed out by being doubled.


rpasillas

Damn. We getting shit for help from today's games.


gergab1133

Kings took this one off and Knicks choking 🤦🏾‍♂️


stefawnn

sigh we played stupid games, congrats lakers on the stupid prizes


MySweatyTh1ghs

Uh WTF Kings.


stefawnn

lol all the favorites we need to win are getting rekt minus the knicks


RealPunyParker

Kyrie absolutely tearing it up since the news of us not pursuing him came out


Ugacy

Well fellas we are finally seeing the consequences of blowing games we were supposed to win. Jazz up 21 against the kings, knicks may lose, warriors up against rockets, Memphis down against the mavs. Every single team we need to lose is playing lights out lol if we don’t make the play in just know it’s our own fault.


Ct2kKB24

I remember at the start of the season when people on this sub said no way in hell they would do a first and Westbrook for randle 🤡


CrazyDaylight8

I would have done that in a heartbeat but happy with what we got


nykezztv

Would teams purposely lose to teams like the thunder to keep lakers out of play-ins?


Ct2kKB24

Yes 100% if lebron comes back.


bigxbluexwwex

I need the Warriors to end up missing the playoffs so I can get those jokes off when the time comes


Lumpy_Communication1

My boy Reaves going to be a upgraded version of Lavine once he peaks


Ugacy

Bro Randle is actually him my goodness


Ct2kKB24

Underrated by casuals. Dude is a legit all nba talent, just can’t be the first option. He could 100% win a title with the right first option or as part of a big three


MySweatyTh1ghs

Randle making it rain, 51 HOLY.


keepon18

Damn Juju killing it. Randle has 48 with 3:32 left in the 3rd.


Low-Cable-9167

The Warriors Game Thread constantly mentions Reaves when they feel Steph doesn’t get a call, a role player getting in fans minds you love to see it 😂


backendty_

That back to back bulls game won’t be easy


Lumpy_Communication1

These bulls are scrappy


Ct2kKB24

Really want to see us develop and use rui more. He has a nice 3 level game and size. There’s no reason he can’t be a Rudy gay type 18ppg player that you rely on when the offense grows stagnant Dudes 24 and a lottery pick. His defense and passing aren’t great, but we don’t need him to be a playmaker and as long as he makes effort plays we can live with him being a mid defender at the forward spot


Fancy-Cream-3972

Knicks really allowing Rudy gogurt to dominate them


juicewar01

Starters need to step it up. They've been net negative for the1 past 3 games at least. Cant watch any more flat fuckin starts


Accomplished_Duty_84

Vanderbilt and Beasley aren’t starters without LeBron. Rui should start.


AdviceEuphoric4852

Man lakers would be right there with Clippers and near Suns for that 4 seed if Davis made free throws late in games, not even hating but what 3 or 4 losses this season because of late AD free throws? I really enjoy this lakers roster as a neutral fan. Vanderbilt and Reaves are such fun players.


boyharsher-

Warriors fans malding over Reaves getting calls is hilarious considering their idol kicks out his legs and falls half the time he shoots a 3


NoNefariousness6527

Also a million moving screens that are never called for Draymond


SanctusXCV

Idk why it took me so long to watch the redeem team on Netflix but what a watch


Ct2kKB24

My favorite story is when they talk about how Kobe said he was going to set the tone and he fucking trucked pau gasol on the first possession


bigxbluexwwex

People on twitter crying about AR15 now that he’s getting coverage LMFAOOOOO I love it dawg


holyrolodex

Whenever a non-superstar Laker balls out and we shower them with appreciation they whine and cry. Every time.


Top-boy-og

10-6 since the trade deadline isn’t terrible, I think Bron only played in 3 of those games too. With Bron that’s 16-0. Whatever happens this year bring back the squad and we’re winning in 2024 for Mamba


EverybodyBuddy

Remember there was also one game (maybe two) after the deadline when we didn’t have all our new players.


Top-boy-og

That was only the Bucks game I didn’t include that


Flow8405

Reaves is just so fundamentally sound. The type of guy who can be a key contributor on a championship level team. Makes sense why Lebron likes him so much


jaychilled

I’m glad rui had some big time shots last game, he only get about 9 shots / 14-17 minutes per game so if he ain’t almost perfect he gon get killed by everybody


qb1120

I'm still a little shocked he hasn't been playing more with Lebron out. I thought his and Vanderbilt's minutes would've gone way up with Lebron out


jaychilled

I completely agree, even the way they use him like starting him vs rockets at C when we had wenyen and then in lineups where we need buckets they use him as a spot up. It’s all jus weird to me honestly


[deleted]

They should rest Austin Reaves on the second game of back-to-backs instead of AD.


Old-Wind4450

If I’m wrong please educate me! I rlly want to hear others opinions on this bc I strongly feel continuity has been a team issue for years, besides injuries. And I always post this but, 100% this is my last time lol. I just want to know what other ppl are seeing that I’m not. Everyone complains about the lakers lineups and the rotations. We had the same complaints when Vogel was coaching. I see so many similarities now in these dumb rotations and subs that continuously kill the momentum and continuity. I feel like there is no way that it’s not Phil Handy pulling these strings! Unless we have some kind of Laker playbook or something passed down for generations that needs to be trashed. I just think it’s deeper than Ham, not saying save him, saying get rid of them both or put a head coach that makes his own decisions.


IceInMyMainVein

Would be hilarious if Handy is the dude wrecking our lineups this whole time.. he gets a weird amount of praise and credit for our success, but never any blame for the failures.


Old-Wind4450

That’s where I’m confused. I wish someone could explain to me why he gets so much praise. They offered him the head coach job and he didn’t want it. So I’m just trying to understand, tbh.


ThunderClown101

Schroeder said the Lakers wanted to go 16-8 in the last 24 games of the season. They are 9-5 since with 10 games left. They need to go 7-3 to reach their target. Do you think they get it done? If LeBron doesn’t come by April 1st, I don’t see this happening. They probably go 6-4 or 5-5 at best. But if LeBron comes back they might win every game he plays in except for the Jazz/Clippers back to back.


roffles20

The path to 7-3 would be like winning both Bulls games, both Jazz games, beating Rockets, beating Thunder, and then some other win along the way. Knowing this team, they’ll do something dumb even if Lebron comes back for the last week of the season. 7-3 is doable, but I don’t trust the team to actually take care of business.


Old-Wind4450

I feel like if Lebron comes back this week, yes. If he doesn’t it’s going to be tough but possible. We just need someone to step up every game and give that energy on both sides of the floor. We have enough guys that can do it.


bjsw534

No I don’t see it happening given the recent play we’ve seen from AD on the offensive end I’ll get downvoted but I’m a realist before an optimist


JesusDaBeast

Reaves is top 5 in the 6MOTY race IMO. Next year hopefully he can win it.


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setyh_pp

weirdo


popsmokefan

whats the starting lineup when bron returns??


Nijee302

D’Lo, Beas, Bron, Vando, AD


JesusDaBeast

D'Lo/Beas/Bron/Rui/AD I think Rui wins the job over Vando in the coming weeks Beas will start hitting his shots too. Also prefer if Reaves ran the 2nd unit cause the bench would be shit without him. Schroder/Reaves/TBJ/Vando/Wenyen is a very solid bench too


discussionandrespect

There is no way in hell I’m giving Beasley 17 Ms next season


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discussionandrespect

Jeanie isn’t paying him and reaves and Troy


FatherHaz

Soon… ![gif](giphy|fnQ27zSDaQIoPNfZ05|downsized)


BearShark8

Why the hell didn't the Lakers sign him (or anyone) sooner 🤦


XxEpicMonkee

There’s a post on the warriors subreddit comparing Steph to Austin FT attempts and while I agree Steph probably needs more, the comments in there are wild lmao


IceInMyMainVein

I'm waiting for Perk to turn this into a race war level issue


blacPanther55

If we are being honest Austin does get a super favorable whistle. Why is the question? I think it is because he looks so unathletic and he's white to be honest.


Bahamut727

I saw the post top. Yeah Steph needs more but Steph last 10 games shot over 105 threes. Austin just 31. I don’t think this small sample size for Austin should bring on so much hate too. They should be targeting different players not Austin


FatherHaz

I feel like if Austin Reeves wasn’t on this team, he would get more love from the other 29 teams. They hate him now cause their hate for the Lakers, but come free agency and god forbid Jeanie lets him go, mfs will be salivating over him.


BearShark8

Same with Caruso. Other NBA fans just called him a meme and this and that and then when he went to the Bulls they were like damn he's actually a really good player.


Drwolf72

is it safe to say we can pull out a win against phx tomorrow?


K19I53

Impossible to win against phx tomorrow since the game is Wednesday.


SanctusXCV

Better analysis than ESPN tbh 👏👏


barelyreadsenglish

We do if we get 30ppg 20rpg AD


LebronsPinkyToe

we win a game after losing two in a row and every other sub is melting down saying the league is rigged


Ricky_Roe10k

Lots of woulda coulda shoulda on the seeding. It is what it is we gotta take this one game at a time. 7 teams playing for 5 spots let’s get it!!


incredibleamadeuscho

To all the people who are negative about everything, I'm just gonna quote Dennis:"fuck what you think. I'm celebrating every win in the NBA because it's hard to win in this league & it's hard to play in the NBA!"


mjh13_

Actually such a banger of a quote


Bahamut727

Sucks that one of these two, some of our biggest contributors in Dennis and Troy, will not be here next season


blacPanther55

I think Christie has shown flashes that he can replace TBJ. Christie has shown that he's a good rebounder, defender, and shooter. I'm not really worried about that. Schroder I 'm open to brining back but I would prefer a backup PG that is a better facilitator.


bjsw534

My hope is that Max Christie has a 2” growth spurt this summer and comes back into next season at 6’8”


Bahamut727

Yeah Dennis is my pick to bring back with the TPMLE. If Max isn’t ready yet we can always get another vet min or get someone in the draft and luck out


laflame150

Just shows that vet mins aren't that bad. They've been good to us over past years. Dennis, TBJ, Rondo, Javale, Dwight, Kief


KarrotMovies

Yeah, sadly. TBJ and Dennis have been one of our most consistent players


quickdrawmc_graw

three guard lineup in the 4th led to us going down, us going big with 3 minutes left won us the game


Old-Wind4450

The Wenyen and AD combo is what ppl have been asking for all season.


bjsw534

Ham is so smart. He’s such a good HC


WeCantBothBeMe

I hope part of why the lakers are now actively pursuing another center is because they’ve seen that putting AD at the 4 again has been working well especially for rebounding. I still believe that they don’t lose to Memphis, Minnesota, Houston and NY if they were playing big. It also was going to win them the Dallas game if not for the last minute blunders.


ybt_sun

Austin may not see a consistent starter role until maybe late playoffs if/when we get there. Mike Trudell talked about this on the Laker Film Room podcast last week. Reaves is best when he plays limited minutes. He's been playing like an All Star partially because his minutes are being used so well.


ProfessorTicklebutts

Eh, that’s conjecture. I think he’s showing quite clearly that he’s ready for more responsibility.


Electronic_Length_24

Teams have been double teaming AD every game thats why hes been really struggling offensively so this team depends on a great guard play like AR did. It's either AD needs to do a better job at recognizing the defense on him or Ham needs to have better offensive sets for AD. Also i really hope DLo can score like 25ppg now till the end so teams would loosen up their defense on AD.


KarrotMovies

AD has been off, but this is true. He was getting double teamed for most of last game. The team has to take advantage of AD hogging up all the defenders


Spaghettithegreat

I like Beasley but he does too much. I want him to play his game but there are too many times where he tries to iso where I, in my limited knowledge, feels like he should just pass the ball. I don't wanna see you be a star bro. You're a 3 pt specialist. U catch the ball you shoot the ball. If u don't have a shot u got a 2 move limit. If you don't have a lane then give it up. This man try to go in his bag like he Kyrie. From what I see he's an ok finisher with a decent floater but it seems like he tries to force it


Trentrid

I personally have no issue if he tries to make defenses pay for overplaying him. That’s the only way he’ll get them to sag a bit so he can do what he does best. Otherwise, he’s out there for cardio.


Spaghettithegreat

Just to be clear. I don't mind him doing his thing, I just don't want him dribbling 5 secs off the clock to take a bad shot when he can pass the ball and possibly get in a position to get better shot in the flow of the offense


Skudamane

So mathematically are we still able to catch that 6th seed?


BearShark8

Yes but they're essentially 1.5 behind Dallas because of the tiebreaker. And there's 5 teams they'd have to jump. So possible yes but would need to be 1-2 wins better than 5 other teams. 8-2 would probably do it which is fairly unlikely.


ProfessorTicklebutts

Yes, but come on, after the season we’ve had, making the play in is still a great achievement.


Regular-Beat1680

My previous ceiling was not gifting Wemby to New Orleans. Anything else is gravy at this point.


Skudamane

Oh best believe I’m proud of our boys, but if there’s a possibility of AD (and everyone else) actually getting any kind of rest before the playoffs I want to stay optimistic for that outcome😭


woKaaaa

Yes but we'd pretty much have to go flawless at the end here


barelyreadsenglish

AD was a beast on defense so I don't think it's a health issue, hopefully he can bounce back soon


ProfessorTicklebutts

It’s the way teams are defending him. It’s pretty obviously that. Not saying he is free if all blame, dude needs to adjust. But there’s nothing wrong with him.


thevisitor

Tell that to half the fan base. Bunch of rabid idiots blaming him entirely for everything.


Flow8405

AD redemption game leading to an unexpected win vs the Suns would be a huge boost heading into the pivotal OKC game on friday


ILackPatience

Surely these Lakers can put up a better fight than the last two previous games against the Suns right?


islandmoneygame

It's now been 3 weeks and 1 day since LeBron's injury. I think he comes back against the Bulls. I would love to see him against OKC though.


ProfessorTicklebutts

Setting yourself up for disappointment in a classic Reddit style.


islandmoneygame

What was that?


rejectx

How much is DLo gonna ask in free agency?


Bahamut727

2/60 or 4/100 maybe depends on how the front office views him long or short term


rejectx

I think he sould be getting similar offer we gave Dennis few years back, 30+ mil for DLo seems rough. Sadly we can't keep both Dennis abd TBJ.


paradauxs

imagine Reaves following a Manu Ginobili type of progression what a steal by Jesse Buss


Dropit9712

I am hyped for the final games. But man starting 2-10 losing so many games by under 5 points. That hurts, laker fans the highs are so high, and the lows…so low.


Bahamut727

When Bron is back, I would say for crucial/important games, I’d have this as my 9 man rotation DLo/Troy/Vando/Bron/AD Dennis/AR/Rui/Wenyen off the bench I’d give spot minutes to Beas and Bamba to see if they have it going. Beas can’t get 25mins every single game and go 1-6 every time. He’s gonna have to start making more than one 3, then id give him more bench minutes and if his shot returns completely then a starting role here and there Bamba is gonna have to defend without fouling and get at least one block per game and make a 3p as well


3nnui

Good call. Beasly has been hurting us too often to keep getting such a large roll. Bamba needs to learn to keep his arms up on defense and move his feet. Most 8th graders have better fundamentals.


Trentrid

Imagine how much better we’d be if AD was a more consistent costar for our stud austin reaves


StoneCold_ColdStone

Hopefully that LeBron guy can step up and be a solid second option for Reaves