44+8+9! The three strongest players in the league! Refuse to renew the contract with the Lakers in advance

Question: With LeBron James and Luka Doncic both out of action due to injuries, who can save the Los Angeles Lakers? There is only one answer, and that is Austin Reeves.

Before the Lakers' away game against the Kings today, bad news suddenly came from the Lakers! Head star Doncic will miss at least the next week of the team's games due to a sprained finger on his left hand and a contusion on his left calf. As a result, the Lakers' two core players, James and Doncic, will not only miss today's game due to injuries, but they will even miss several recent games. There is no doubt that the strength of the Lakers without Dong Zhan will be greatly reduced, which also makes people can't help but worry that they may suffer a losing streak as a result!

As everyone knows, even though the Lakers are without Dong Zhan, they still have Reeves, who was the ruthless player who was named the league's top three boss last season. Although both sides played very anxiously against the Kings today, the Lakers, led by Reeves, always took the initiative on the court. At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers led the Kings by 9 points! In the second quarter, the Lakers recovered by 9 points from the Kings, and the two sides entered the second half with a 62-level tie.

At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers regained the lead! In the fourth quarter, Reeves completely took over the game. He hit three three-pointers in succession to pave the way for the Lakers to win. In the final stage, Reeves made two free throws to completely seal the victory. In the end, the Lakers captured the Kings 127-120 and won two consecutive games this season.

In this battle, Reeves, who has unlimited firepower, is completely crazy on the offensive end! He made 12 of 22 shots from the field, 6 of 10 three-pointers, and 21 of 22 free throws. He scored a career-high 51 points, plus 11 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals. His plus-minus value of +22 led the game. There is no doubt that Reeves is the number one contributor to the remnant Lakers' victory over the Kings. His super explosion on the offensive end saved the Lakers.

According to statistics, Reeves is the fourth player in the NBA in the past 40 years to score at least 50 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists in a single game, comparable to Doncic, Westbrook (2 times) and Harden (2 times). The last Lakers player to record such statistics was Baylor, who scored 50 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists against the Celtics on February 14, 1963.

There is no doubt that Reeves has directly transformed himself into a super giant in the absence of Dong Zhan. He is worthy of being the three strongest players in the league. As everyone knows, this is actually Reeves' basic exercise when both Dong Zhan and Dong Zhan are absent! According to statistics, Reeves performed amazingly in the three games when Doncic and James were absent. He averaged 44.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists per game, shooting 52.7% from the field, 48.3% from three-point range, and 97.6% from free throws.

Among them, in the Lakers' 124-117 victory over the Pacers on February 9, 2025, Reeves, who led the team with a single core, made 14 of 26 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers, 13 of 13 free throws, and scored 45 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals;

Lakers 12 on March 15, 2025 Lost to the Nuggets 131-6, single-core Reeves made 13 of 26 shots, 4 of 10 three-pointers, and 7 of 7 free throws. He scored 37 points, 8 rebounds, 13 assists, and 4 steals.

Today, the Lakers defeated the Kings 127-120. Single-core Reeves made 12 of 22 shots, 6 of 10 three-pointers, and 21 of 22 free throws. He scored 51 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals.

Facts have proven that Reeves, who has unlimited firepower, can also make waves on the offensive end! Without Dong Zhan, averaging 44+8+9 per game is the best proof.

Seeing Reeves' incredible performance today, the Lakers management may have mixed feelings! The good news is that Reeves is worthy of being the perfect third player on the team, but the bad thing is that I'm afraid I won't be able to keep him if we don't spend money next summer. This summer, Reeves rejected a four-year, $89.2 million early contract extension offered by the Lakers.

It is reported that Reeves will reject the player option next summer and jump out of the contract to become a free agent. By then, he can sign a maximum salary contract with a starting salary of 25% of the salary cap, with a starting salary of approximately 41.37 million. Since the Lakers own Reeves' bird rights, they can provide him with a maximum salary of US$240 million over five years, while Reeves and other teams can sign a maximum salary of US$185 million over four years.

Can the Lakers successfully renew Reeves' contract next summer? We might as well wait and see!