Detroit Pistons: The 3 riskiest free agents on the market this summer

Detroit Pistons: The 3 riskiest NBA free agents on the market this summer

Austin Reaves

Austin Reaves is having a very good run in the playoffs for the Lakers, who happen to have Lebron James and Anthony Davis.

He’s averaged 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists in seven games and knocked down 35 percent of his 3-point shots, benefitting from the attention given to his Hall-of-Fame teammates.

It’s reminiscent of the run Duncan Robinson had for the Heat, who promptly rewarded him with a massive 5 year/$90 million contract. Now he barely plays and they are stuck paying big money for a guy who is essentially a back of the bench player at this point.

Reaves is a restricted free agent, so the Lakers can match any deal up to a point, and may want to, as he has proven to be a nice complementary player. But what happens if he is in a bigger role and doesn’t have LeBron next to him?

I like Reaves, but he’s the most likely player to get the next Duncan Robinson contract after a hot playoff run and some recency bias, especially if the Lakers end up in the NBA Finals and he gets even more exposure.

There’s no reason to reach for a 24-year-old player like Reaves in free agency when they can likely find a cheaper player who fulfills a similar role. Reaves may end up being a star, but he may also end up being an overpaid role player.