Austin Reaves Happy To Have Walker Kessler On Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers identified Walker Kessler as the big man they wanted to pair with their dynamic backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves this offseason and the front office traded a lot of draft capital to bring him in while signing him to a four-year, $130 million contract.

So far, the returns have been positive as Kessler has provided exactly what the Lakers needed with his work in the pick-and-roll, finishing at the rim, rebounding and defensive presence. And Reaves believes the big man is only going to get better as the season goes on.

“Yeah, he’s been great. It’s fun to watch,” Reaves said after the Lakers’ victory over the Miami Heat. “Glad to have him on our team, and he’s gonna continue to get better every single game. But he’s been massive for us this whole year.”

So far this season, Kessler is averaging 14.4 points and 10.5 rebounds, which ranks sixth in the NBA. The big man also ranks third in the league in blocks per game at 2.5, which is a career-high and is coming off his third straight double-double with a 15-point, 15-rebound performance against the Heat.

There is a lot of pressure on Kessler to validate what the Lakers gave up to bring him in. Just being a center in a Lakers uniform brings a certain level of pressure with the history of all-time great bigs who have worn the purple and gold. Kessler is certainly not at the level of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain, but he is giving the Lakers exactly what they hoped for when they traded for him this summer.

Kessler isn’t going to be a dominant offensive force, and the Lakers don’t need him to be, he just has to finish the open looks Doncic and Reaves will create for him and he’s doing that very well with his 71.4% field goal percentage ranking second in the league. And like Reaves said, he is only going to get better as the season goes on and he gets more comfortable with his role and what is asked of him, which only make the Lakers that much more dangerous.

Austin Reaves: Lakers must continue to play right way amidst growing pains

Despite the Lakers starting off the season 6-2 and having the best offense in the NBA, Reaves gave a reminder that this group still will have growing pains as they get used to each other, and must continue to play the right way as they grow together.