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Luka Doncic leads Lakers into 2025–26 Season as Reaves praises Jake LaRavia’s potential

Originally posted on HITC | By Luca Rosano | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 9:19 AM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers are gearing up for the 2025-26 NBA season, looking to make a fresh start with Luka Doncic in the mix.

While much of the attention has been on LeBron James and his future, there’s a quiet optimism building around what this team might achieve. Doncic, after dedicating his offseason to getting into better shape, seems motivated to answer critics who have questioned him in the past.

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On top of that, Austin Reaves is heading into a contract year, which could give him an extra push to deliver his best campaign yet.

The Lakers didn’t make any major moves over the summer but did add some depth and shooting. Their front office seems confident that improvement will come from within, especially with Doncic fully healthy and settled into his role as their lead player.

Reaves backs LaRavia to make an impact for Lakers

The Lakers added a few new faces in the offseason, bringing in DeAndre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia to help strengthen their roster.

LaRavia, who is good mates with Reaves, is expected to play a key role off the bench this season. However, it’s clear he hasn’t quite hit his stride just yet.

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Reaves spoke about LaRavia’s adjustment period but made it clear that the team still believes in what he can bring long-term.

“I think he’s been great. Obviously there’s some things here and there that he hasn’t done to the standard that I’m sure he wants to,” Reaves said. “But at the same time, it’s not easy to come into a new team and be really, really good off the get-go.”

“He’s got a lot of promise, and he can be somebody that we really need on this team. We know he can do that, and now we just keep encouraging him to do that.”

Jake LaRavia’s career numbers

LaRavia was taken with the 19th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, though his rights were quickly traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

His best year came in 2023-24 when he put up averages of 10.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists over 35 games for Memphis.

The following season, LaRavia moved to the Sacramento Kings as part of a three-team deal that also involved the Washington Wizards.

Over his career so far, he’s averaged 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds across 136 regular-season games. The Lakers picked him up this offseason on a two-year deal worth $12 million.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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