During the preseason, the Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton duo was an awkward pairing. Reaves’ entry passes to Ayton were often misplaced, his lobs to him were also frequently way off and turnovers were plentiful.
While it didn’t look great, with two players as talented as Reaves and Ayton, it felt safe to assume they’d figure out how to make it work.
Well, after just four regular season games, signs of this tandem being a great pairing are beginning to show.
Against the Blazers with no LeBron James or Luka Dončić, Reaves and Ayton led the way for the Lakers. Reaves had a game-high 41 points. Ayton scored 16 while grabbing eight rebounds, which was tied for a team-high in boards.
It wasn’t just their production that was impressive; how they used one another to elevate their games was most encouraging.
Reaves fed the ball to Ayton 12 times, he passed to him more than any other player. It resulted in two easy buckets from each elbow and one basket in the paint for the Lakers’ starting center.
Ayton was looking for Reaves just as much, passing the ball to his guard 19 times in the loss.
After the game, Reaves discussed how the on-court relationship between Ayton and him has been developing.
“It’s been good,” Reaves said postgame. “He’s been awesome. He’s been very receptive to listening to not just what I have to say, but Luka, LeBron, the front office, coaches. He’s been very locked into everything that we’ve told him, but on the back end of that, we give him a voice. We ask him what he wants, what he likes and try to make that work together. Four games in, I feel like he’s continued to build on that and it’s been very, very good.”
Ayton is a very different big man compared to the other centers the Lakers have on the roster. Jaxson Hayes, for example, is much more of a lob threat and he rolls harder to the rim. Ayton, on the other hand, loves the short roll and scores a lot more from the high post and from the 3-10 foot range.
It will take some time for Reaves to learn Ayton’s rhythm and preferences, but after just four games, we’ve already seen their chemistry improve and have seen some glimpses of how good they can be.
“Austin is a smart dude,” Ayton said after the loss. “A few conversations and a couple of practices and live play, he already knew what type of style I like coming out of the pick and roll. We’re starting to learn what the defense gives us as well. Sometimes the pocket is not always there and I have to finish these rolls and he’s going have to get the ball and spread out to these corners to get the ball moving.”
When you have two players willing to make things work, the solution to many basketball problems is usually patience and time.
Ayton and Reaves are skilled enough to figure out how to optimize best playing alongside each other in pick-and-roll actions and for the myriad of other plays they’ll have to run on the court.
However, it won’t happen right away.
As the season continues, Reaves and Ayton will get to know each other even better, and they should be able to maximize their two-man game if they continue to maintain this level of commitment.
LeBron and Luka being out is bad for the team, but the blessing of their absence is that it can expedite the chemistry between Reaves and Ayton.
They are now the two best offensive players available for LA, and if they can continue to grow together now, it’ll make this team even better when the other offensive weapons return.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
