Austin Reaves Is Luka's Undisputed No. 2 — What It Means for His Fantasy Value
Before a calf strain wrecked his midseason, Reaves posted 27.3 points and 6.5 assists over 22 games as a lead creator. With LeBron gone, that role is his full-time.
A cold five-game stretch masks a clear No. 2 role and rising usage.
- 27.3 pts, 6.5 ast, 5.4 reb in 22 games before injury
- Grade 2 calf strain cost him a month last season
- Our rank #39 overall (#19 at guard) entering 2026-27
- 38.7 fantasy pts/game in 51 games (2025-26 actual)
- Doncic: 33.5/8.3/7.7 as Lakers' No. 4 seed last year
The Luka Doncic era in Los Angeles arrives with an obvious question buried in the headlines: who's the second creator? With LeBron James no longer on the roster, the answer is Austin Reaves, and the tape from last season says he's more than ready. Before a Grade 2 calf strain knocked him out around Christmas, Reaves averaged 27.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds across 22 games — All-Star-level output.
The wrinkle is that a lot of those numbers came with either James or Doncic sidelined, meaning Reaves was already carrying the offense in stretches. Now that workload is permanent. In our database he finished 2025-26 at 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 51 games, good for 38.7 fantasy points per contest and a #39 overall rank (#19 among guards). The gap between that season line and his healthy 22-game peak is the entire fantasy pitch here.
Why the Role Change Matters
Reaves has improved his production every single year since signing as an undrafted free agent — that's not a fluke, it's a trajectory. Doncic's gravity is the kind of thing that lifts a secondary ball-handler's efficiency, and with LeBron out of the picture there's no one else siphoning touches. The health caveat is real. But the usage runway is wide open.
Doncic, for his part, posted 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds last season as the Lakers finished the No. 4 seed. Per Stathead, only one other player has ever matched those averages — Doncic himself, in 2023-24. He remains a first-round fantasy lock regardless of what happens around him, which only reinforces the value flowing to Reaves as the clear second option.
The Bench Wildcard
Don't sleep on Collin Sexton either. He's never averaged single digits in scoring across eight NBA seasons, and he profiles as the Lakers' primary spark off the bench with the greenest light behind Reaves and Doncic. He put up 15.4 points and 3.3 assists over 68 games last season (24.6 fantasy points, #145 overall), and his last five games ran +9.9 above his season average — a hot hand worth a speculative streaming add.
For fantasy managers: buy low on Reaves. His last five games dipped 3.9 fantasy points below his season average, which is exactly the kind of noise that spooks the impatient owner in your league. The role is the story — full-time No. 2 next to Doncic — and if the calf holds up, that 27-point stretch is the ceiling you're paying a discount for. Make the call now, before the stat line catches up to the opportunity.
