Austin Reaves Enjoyed Being Back On Court But Knows Lakers Are Work In Progress This Preseason
The NBA season is officially here with the Los Angeles Lakers kicking off preseason action on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns. Austin Reaves was a player who impressed with 20 points on 6-for-11 from the field in 21 minutes
Obviously, it is preseason and process matters more than results. The Lakers looked like a team with new pieces to integrate and missing two stars in LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
Moving forward, hopefully, the Lakers can establish an identity offensively and defensively. From Reaves’ perspective, he believes the team needs to compete harder and pay attention to the details moving forward in preseason but understands it’s still very early.
“I’ve been a part of [preseason], this is now five times, you understand that it’s not going to be perfect the first go around. The expectation of being perfect, we have a ways to get there and we know that,” Reaves said. “Like JJ (Redick) said, he was looking for three things and those things are not uncontrollables, they are controllables. In spurts, we were doing that and in spurts we weren’t. We just got to compete a little harder, pay a little bit more attention to the details and we’ll be fine.”
This is the first game action players have participated in, so rust is expected to come with that. But, Reaves looked aggressive and got to his spots with ease. With that, he shared he felt good out on the court despite not playing live basketball for awhile.
“Yeah, it felt good,” Reaves said. “Just enjoy playing basketball, Greg (St. Jean) told me twice already that I look quick and that might’ve been the two only times I’ve ever been told that. So, it feels good, but just happy to be out there playing basketball again with these guys.”
Seeing how Reaves has embraced being an on-ball creator is impressive as he looks comfortable orchestrating offense and creating for himself. If the regular season started right now, he showed he would be ready to play.
When the Arkansas native is the lone ball-handler, he has proven time and time again that it is not a daunting challenge for him. Hopefully, James and Doncic can suit up at least once or twice this preseason so Reaves sees what his offensive role will be moving forward, but regardless, he is clearly a player they will be counting on this season.
Austin Reaves thought Anthony Davis was joking with Lakers players
The Luka Doncic trade is immortalized as the craziest blockbuster deal in league history. So much so that when the news broke, seemingly no one believed it was real.
Anthony Davis broke the news to his teammates, but Austin Reaves revealed he thought he was joking at the time given his prankster personality.
Yankees’ Trust in Luke Weaver Crumbles
Luke Weaver has been the New York Yankees’ biggest bullpen question all October. On Saturday, that question only grew louder.
Handed the ball in the seventh inning of the ALDS opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, Weaver faced three batters. He didn’t record an out. A single, a walk, and another sharp base hit were enough to bring Aaron Boone to the mound. The Blue Jays broke the game open, and the Yankees’ bullpen construction — already a fragile storyline — tilted toward disaster.
It came just four days after Weaver unraveled in the Wild Card opener against Boston, giving away a one-run lead in the same spot. Two outings, two collapses, and no clean inning to steady his October.
Boone’s Defense
Boone stuck by Weaver after the loss.
“It can click like that because the stuff is there,” Boone told reporters in Toronto. “We’ve just got to get him locked in with his delivery.”
That line underscores why Weaver made the roster in the first place. Boone has leaned on him all season, trusting his swing-and-miss fastball and postseason experience even when the results have dipped.
The Numbers
Weaver’s 2025 season was steady on paper: a 3.62 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 72 strikeouts across 64.2 innings in 64 appearances. His Statcast profile shows an average exit velocity allowed of 89.2 mph and a 36.6 percent hard-hit rate. Those numbers that reveal how thin the margin for error can be when his command drifts.
Those numbers made him a trusted middle-innings arm during the regular season, but his recent slide has been glaring. He has been scored upon in five of his last eight outings dating back to September.
That falloff stands in sharp contrast to last October, when Weaver was a vital piece of the Yankees’ World Series run. In 2024, he posted a 1.76 ERA across 12 postseason appearances, striking out 16 and locking down four saves. His ability to handle leverage was one of Boone’s biggest assets.
The Tipping Concern
Postgame in Toronto, Weaver hinted at a deeper problem. He suggested he hasn’t felt completely comfortable on the mound, hinting heavily that they believe he is tipping his pitches.
Toronto hitters seemed locked in on him. It would explain why his last two postseason outings unraveled so quickly. Against Boston, it was a walk and a two-run single. Against Toronto, three batters reached in a row. In both games, hitters looked ready for what was coming.
What It Means for the Yankees
The Yankees built their roster with Weaver as one of Boone’s trusted middle-inning options, a veteran presence to bridge games to Devin Williams and David Bednar. But after back-to-back October meltdowns, and now questions about pitch tipping, the calculation changes. Boone’s bullpen is suddenly thinner. p.
Boone isn’t ready to give up on Weaver, at least not publicly. But October is unforgiving. The Yankees entered this postseason counting on Weaver as an anchor. Two outings in, they’re left wondering if he has become their biggest liability.
