Austin Reaves believes he can create ‘chaos’ with LA Lakers teammate, ‘it’s gonna be tough for teams…’

Austin Reaves is ready to create ‘chaos’ with Luka Doncic on the offensive end of the floor

The 2025-26 NBA season will be Doncic’s first full campaign with the iconic franchise. With Doncic looking in great shape ahead of the season, it’s no surprise that fans have high expectations for him.

However, Doncic can only do so much without help from his Lakers teammates. Keeping that in mind, Reaves believes his partnership with Doncic is something to keep an eye on during next season.

“It brings so much chaos offensively, obviously because you got two guys that are – obviously I’m not putting myself in Luka’s category because he’s a top-3 player in the NBA.

“But it brings two guys at the 1 and 2, then you obviously have Bron too, who are willing passers and create chaos on defense,” Reaves said via the Lakers Nation.

“So therefore, I think it’s gonna be tough for teams to stay in front of us, and I feel we can get good looks on every possession.

“And then defensively, we just had to lock down and just be with it mentally every possession,” he added.

Reaves also reflected on the Lakers’ defense post the blockbuster Doncic trade.

“Right after the trade, I think for a month or two, I think we were a top-5 defense in the NBA. So we’ve shown that we can do that. We just got to continue to grow our schemes and how we want to do that, be smart with all that,” the 27-year-old stated.

Austin Reaves hits out at impatient people for ‘blowing things out of proportion’

Did the Lakers suffer a 4-1 humiliation at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves? Yes. Did Reaves struggle during the playoffs? Also, yes. But is it the end of the world? No.

During the same interview, Reaves clapped back at impatient fans and media members for calling out the Lakers’ defense.

“Everybody likes to blow things out of proportion. I think when you become a really good defense, it’s not about one individual defender guarding the ball. It’s about everybody who’s locked into rotations.

“To be honest, there’s so much talent in the league. You look at players that are first, second team All-Defense, and they get blown by some of the time, too,” Reaves continued.

He concluded: “So you gotta be in situations where if that does happen, then you have to be connected every single possession.”

The comments felt like Reaves’ subtle attempt to defend Doncic’s critics, who believe that the former Dallas Mavericks star is an abysmal defender. Reaves also praised Jaxson Hayes as he was utterly destroyed for his performance come playoff time.

But at the end of the day, the best way to silence critics is to win the NBA Championship. Can the Lakers do it in 2026? Only time will tell.