Austin Reaves (SG, LAL) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 22

Austin Reaves is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 22 of the 2022-23 NBA season.

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ANALYSIS: While it is true that Austin Reaves has not started a game since he did for the last time at the start of January (he then missed more than a month, it must be said) there is no reason for the Los Angeles Lakers to insert him into the starting lineup considering his exploits coming off the pine after the AS break.

Part of the Lake Show’s second unit, Reaves is getting around 27 MPG since the break but that number has reached 30 MPG in the past two weeks of play and seven games through Saturday. In that time, from Mar. 5 on, Reaves has put up an average nightly stat line of 17-3-5 to go with 1+ stock a pop (relying more on steals than blocks, obviously).

The only negative, if any, is the kinda-high turnovers as Reaves is losing 1.4 possessions per game on the year and nearly two per outing after the break. He more than makes up for that with his relatively high assists (almost 5 APG after the break, 5.4+ APG in the past seven games), though, so he’s good on that front.

Reaves’ usage rate is very low and the shots often fall behind the double-digit mark (barely above 9 FGA per game) although this man is used in very particular/spot-up ways when it comes to shooting so when he hoists a field goal it ends going through the rim more often than not (55 FG% in the last seven games).

While not a lock to finish every matchup with 1+ trey to his name, Reaves’ shooting percentages are extraordinary and he still contributes 1.2+ 3PM on a per-game basis. The fact that he can operate anywhere from the one to the three allows him to rack up stats in all cats except blocks.

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