Rich Paul agrees with Max Kellerman that Austin Reeves should be Manu Ginobili
The The Los Angeles Lakers had strong first quarter of the 2025 NBA season, is currently 17-6 heading into Wednesday night’s NBA Cup knockout game against the San Antonio Spurs. It was particularly impressive a play for Austin Reaveswho is averaging just north of 28 points per game, which more than made up for LeBron James’ extended absence in the season opener.
Recently, James’ agent Rich Paul and sports analyst Max Kellerman discussed what Reaves’ ideal role would look like in the competition team.
“Ideally, Austin Reeves…is Ginobili. In an ideal world…” Kellerman said, per Silver Screen and Roll, via the “Game Over” podcast (per Hoopshipe).
Paul: “On the championship team?” Paul was surprised.
“On a championship team, he’s the sixth killer,” Kellerman explained.
“Yes,” Paul agreed.
It may take some time for Lakers fans to warm to the idea of Austin Reaves as the sixth man, given the way he’s played so far this season, though there have been some major concerns about the viability of a defensive backcourt with him and Luka Doncic. While the results have been good so far this year, last year’s playoff run against the Minnesota Timberwolves certainly raised some big questions about whether Reaves and Doncic can provide enough resistance on the perimeter defensively.
For now, though, the Lakers are humming along with Reaves in the starting lineup, getting off to a better start than most experts expected, and that’s only expected to accelerate now that James is back in the lineup.
It remains to be seen if Rob Pelinka and company will try to trade another defenseman before the deadline, but for now Los Angeles is sitting pretty well.
The Lakers will next take the floor on Wednesday night against the Spurs at 10:00 PM ET, with the winner going to Las Vegas.
2025-12-10 16:32:00
