LeBron James (sciatica) has yet to make an appearance this season and Luka Doncic has been on the shelf for three games with finger and leg issues, leading to a Reaves explosion as the last man standing for the Lakers. After two solid outings alongside a healthy Doncic, Reaves has been amazing over his past three, with 51 points and a near triple-double in one, a 41-point explosion against the Portland Trail Blazers and then going for 28 points and a career-high tying 16 assists in Wednesday's win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Reaves is going to produce with or without his superstar teammates on the court, but if there was ever a time to trade him, it's now.
However, instead of elevating his game as he'd done in year's past, Reaves saw significant dips nearly across the board as his points (down 4.0 per game), assists (down 2.2), free throw attempts (down 3.6), and shooting percentages (down 4.9% overall, 5.8% from behind the arc) all declined while his turnovers and fouls committed per game went up.