4 big mistakes ESPN made with Top 100 player rankings
![Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) moves to the basket against Detroit Pistons guard Alec Burks (5) Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) moves to the basket against Detroit Pistons guard Alec Burks (5) Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/47a92617e0a847014901a7dda41f8adb8047f3c0063f7926689439823308afd9.jpg)
Austin Reaves at #66?!?
I should first say that I like Austin Reaves. He’s been a great story over the last year as he’s gone from undrafted free agent to starting on a team in the Western Conference Finals to being the second-leading scorer on Team USA.
The fact that Reaves was one of the best players on Team USA probably says more about the team than him, as they finished a disappointing 4th in the FIBA World Cup and didn’t even medal.
Reaves is good, which is especially painful considering the Pistons almost had him, but is he really the 66th-best player in the league? We might be getting ahead of ourselves here.
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I wonder what Reaves would look like if he had ended up on the Pistons and not a team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on it.
Would anyone really take Reaves over OG Anunoby (67), Michael Porter Jr. (68) or Brook Lopez (69)? I don’t think anyone would take him over RJ Barrett, Jordan Poole or Cade Cunningham either.
Reaves made the biggest jump of any player, which is a bit premature for a guy who averaged 13 points last season and only started 22 games. This seems like Lakers’ bias, as there is no way Reaves would be on here if he were on the Hornets or Pacers.