Austin Reaves dismisses concerns about defensive pairing with Luka Doncic citing Top-5 defensive record 

Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic are at the center of the Los Angeles Lakers’ future core. Both guards are younger than 28 years old and have already enjoyed massive amounts of success so far in their NBA careers. However, their pairing in the Lakers backcourt has some questions to answer on the defensive side of the ball. Reaves, however, is not concerned based on the second half of the season.

The Los Angeles backcourt was developed in two different ways. On one hand, the Lakers developed Reaves nearly from scratch after he went undrafted in 2021. On the other, Los Angeles traded away one of the biggest stars in the modern era to the Dallas Mavericks to bring in Doncic. Together, they provide opponents with a daunting challenge thanks to their offensive talent.

Reaves and Doncic are offensive-minded guards, often at the detriment of their defense. However, the 27-year-old guard sat down with Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane on Tuesday at his youth basketball camp to break down his thoughts on the team heading into the offseason.

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When the subject of Los Angeles' defense was brought up, Reaves was confident that the Lakers can be successful, citing what the team did on that end after bringing Doncic in.

"Defensively, we just have to lock down and just be with it mentally every possession," Reaves said about his team. "Right after the (Doncic) trade, for like a month or two months we had a top five defense in the NBA. We've shown that we can do that, we just gotta continue to grow."

When the Lakers traded for Doncic, experts around the league guessed that the Los Angeles defense would suffer as a result. After their playoff loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, those questions still linger. However, Reaves does not believe it is as big as deal as it is being made out to be.

"When you become a really good defense, it's not about one individual defender guarding the ball," Reaves said about the defense. "It's about everyone who's locked in to rotations if you do get beat."

The Los Angeles Lakers are searching for centers to help cover Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic defensively

In their series against the Timberwolves, the Lakers faced two major problems. Their depth left a lot to be desired, and the lack of a center outside of Jaxson Hayes forced them into smaller lineups that Minnesota feasted on. As the offseason approaches, getting a center is Los Angeles' biggest priority.

The Lakers have been attached to many different names that could be on the trade market, including Nicolas Claxton, Walker Kessler and Jarrett Allen. All three are upgrades on both ends of the floor and capable lob threats alongside Doncic. However, Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka does not have as many assets to move if the Lakers want to hold on to Reaves long-term.

Pelinka could end up using Los Angeles' mid-level exception to bring in a center like Clint Capela to help his team get through the first part of the season and try to make a bigger deal at next year's trade deadline. Regardless of who the team brings in down low, many eyes will be on the backcourt pair of Reaves and Doncic. The former is ready for the challenge, ready to prove haters wrong defensively.

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About the author

Zachary Howell

Zachary Howell is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from Syracuse University and over a year of experience in the field.

Being introduced to the digital side of content inspired Zachary to become a writer, and his love of basketball made this an obvious transition.

His favorite team is the OKC Thunder, and Zachary started following them in 2011 when they were on the rise with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. His favorite basketball players from the past are Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. Those three came to define their eras of basketball and were dominant without beating their chests too much. Zachary is a big fan of quiet greatness and these three players are good embodiments of that.

When not writing or watching sports, Zachary enjoys reading and exercising, as well as gaming. He loves to be outside and spend time with friends and family, including his three dogs.

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