NBA exec asks concerning question for Lakers in matchup vs Timberwolves expecting rough time for Austin Reaves
An NBA executive asked a concerning question to the LA Lakers involving Austin Reaves ahead of their first-round matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Wednesday, Dan Woike from the Los Angeles Times published an article containing the opinion of a couple of anonymous NBA scouts and executives on the Lakers' first-round matchup.
In Woike's article, one Western Conference team executive questioned the Lakers' perimeter defense and highlighted Austin Reaves as a potential weak point to get exploited during the series.
"Who is going to guard?” the West exec said. “I think the Lakers’ lack of perimeter defense has been masked because they can be big, but Minnesota is big. But when you slow down and seek out matchups, they’ll target Austin [Reaves] and go at him."
The LA Lakers have been great ever since they brought in Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster deal before the NBA trade deadline in February. Doncic and LeBron James have proved themselves as two immovable pillars on the purple and gold's offense.
Austin Reaves has also stepped up his game and is having a breakout season. He has shown potential to hold his own against top teams even without Doncic and James out of the game. However, the Western executive's opinion bears weight; the Lakers lack a solid defensive presence under the rim.
They do not have a legitimate big man, and although they have an overall size advantage over many teams, that won't be the case against the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards has been performing great this season, especially from downtown. He is shooting 39.5 percent from the 3-point line, and JJ Redick will have to come up with a solution to shut him down.
Austin Reaves reveals the key tactic to neutralize the Lakers' lack of size against the Timberwolves
Austin Reaves expressed his thoughts on the tactic the Lakers need to follow to negate the size disadvantage against the Timberwolves on Saturday. Reaves spoke to Dave McMenamin from ESPN on Wednesday, expressing his thoughts on the matchup ahead.
"You just got to play hard as s**t," Reaves said. "Every possession, you win by the smallest margin or you lose by the smallest margin in the playoffs, as we could tell from last year."
Reaves said that he and his team were "ready to go to war" against the Timberwolves on Saturday. The Anthony Edwards-led side made it to the Western Conference Finals last season and lasted five games against the Dallas Mavericks.
They won't be an easy team to beat, but fortunately for the purple and gold, they will have Luka Doncic, who was the series' leading scorer and majorly responsible for knocking out the Timberwolves.