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Austin Reaves has been forced to watch from the sidelines for the Los Angeles Lakers for the last two games. The guard has been sitting out games due to right groin soreness, leaving the team with only one of their three best players, Luka Doncic. However, his status has recently changed; the injury is now listed as a right groin strain, an update that has raised eyebrows among Lakers fans. However, one Lakers insider recently cleared the air. “Austin Reaves, right groin strain, still out for the Los Angeles Lakers,” said Lakers Nation reporter and LA insider Trevor Lane. “There’s good and bad here. The good is: my understanding is that… he wasn’t being listed as groin soreness. Now it’s groin strain. So did he get reevaluated? Did something change with Austin’s injury? No. I’ve been told no, that’s not the case.” Lane continued, explaining that the league needs teams to be more specific with injury designations: “The NBA, they want a little bit more specific of a designation than just soreness. They’ll only let you put soreness on for a few days, and then you need to update it to something a bit more specific than that… I saw people going around that were questioning whether or not that was something that, you know, had something had changed with the injury. No.” ADVERTISEMENT So, in short, Reaves hasn’t suffered a new injury, which is great news for Laker Nation. However, his next words brought the fans to reality. Lane added that there was no clear timeline on Reaves’ injury, saying, “However, I’ve also been told that right now there is no timetable for a return for Austin Reeves currently. Now, don’t hear what I’m not saying – no timetable doesn’t mean it’s an extended injury. It just means we don’t know.” The phrase “no timetable for return” hangs heavy in the air. Despite clarification that indicates that this might not be a long-term issue, it’s hard to see this Lakers team, which, to be fair, has demonstrated incredible tenacity, continuing to play without two of their three best players. LeBron James hasn’t suited up to start the year due to sciatica, and to make things worse, Doncic has already been forced to sit out four of the nine games this season. ADVERTISEMENT Lane also added to this point, saying, “That’s a tough blow for the Lakers team… They’ve played five of their nine games so far without at least two of their three best players. They played one game without any of them. And now we’re going to add more of those here.” With Doncic likely to dominate the ball, as usual, the lead ball-handler imbalance could wear down on rhythm and rotations for the team’s role players. As much as the Lakers have held their own, they’ve done so with improvisation that can’t last forever. ADVERTISEMENT Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports MRI Results Bring Austin Reaves Relief, But Los Angeles Lakers Stay Cautious Recently, Austin Reaves underwent an MRI on his right groin to confirm his status, and fortunately, there is no significant damage. The Lakers have already demonstrated that they’re unwilling to take chances with his condition. Head coach JJ Redick, when asked when Reaves would return, previously stated, “That’s a TBD… A further injury on [his groin] is hard. I’ve had them, I had that surgery. So we’re just trying to be safe with him, and hopefully [he returns] Saturday. But we’re not gonna put him at risk.” ADVERTISEMENT Reaves has taken a huge leap this season, averaging 31.1 points and 9.3 assists on 65.4% True Shooting, marking the best season of his young career. One report suggests that he should likely be good to play against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, but with the Lakers already winning, there’s no reason to rush anyone back. ADVERTISEMENT The team might as well continue playing it safe, especially to ensure long-term health across the roster for playoff contention. In the meantime, the Lakers have leaned on Marcus Smart, Bronny James and Nick Smith Jr. to soak up Reaves’ minutes, divvying up the playmaking load across the guard room. While not ideal, LA has proven its ability to survive through the storm, and its strategy is simple: weather the storm now and stabilize later.
