The Los Angeles Lakers have sorely missed Austin Reaves who has been sidelined with a calf injury since Christmas Day.
Reaves was turning in the best year of his career to begin the 2025-26 season, improving his production across the board and making a real case to make his first All-Star team. Since Reaves was ruled out, the Lakers’ offense has taken a dip while the defense is noticeably worse.
When Reaves got hurt, the initial prognosis was that he would miss at least six weeks and so far it seems like he’s on track to return on schedule. Head coach JJ Redick said he expects Reaves to return at some point during the team’s eight-game road trip, meaning that his return is imminent.
As part of Reaves’ return-to-play process, Redick revealed Reaves has been playing 3-on-3 and is on track to start playing in stay-ready games, via Khobi Price of The California Post:
The injury updates for Reaves have been positive, so it’s encouraging to hear Redick say that he’s looking more like himself in live action. Calf injuries have forced several stars around the league to miss extended time, so Los Angeles was wise to bring him along as slowly as they did.
The Lakers can’t get Reaves back soon enough as there have been too many prolonged scoring droughts in losses. L.A. lost multiple games by double-digits during their rough patch, largely in part because defenses were able to load up on Luka Doncic and LeBron James more than usual.
Los Angeles has six games left on its road trip, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Reaves make his return closer to the end of the trip as the team would likely want him to play some 5-on-5 at some point in his recovery process. Regardless, the Lakers are finally getting healthier and it’ll be interesting to see what the group looks like at full strength.
Luka Doncic looking forward to return of Austin Reaves
Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have developed a close relationship in their first full season together, leading to some explosive offensive performances. Doncic has done his best to keep the Lakers afloat, but he acknowledged he’s looking forward to Reaves’ return.
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