The Los Angeles Lakers recently faced off against their former head coach in Frank Vogel, currently at the helm of the Phoenix Suns. And the reunion gave Vogel a chance to reflect on his time with the Lakers and some of the players he encountered, including third-year guard Austin Reaves.
Vogel was the head coach when the Lakers signed Reaves as an undrafted free agent and was a part of his quick ascent from two-way player to a standard contract to being a regular part of the Lakers rotation during a lost 2021-22 campaign. It would be Vogel’s last season as the Lakers head coach, but his work with Reaves left a lasting impact.
Reaves has since become a regular starter, a Team USA member and a high-ranking candidate for the Most Improved Player award this season. Reaves is arguably the third-best player on a team that includes superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Vogel saw the potential for this type of trajectory from Reaves when they made the decision to either draft or sign him out of college, even seeing some Luka Doncic in him.
“I did. We were very high on him obviously as a rookie. You have to get up to speed of the NBA game, but when we first watched him on film, Jesse Buss gave us the film of him as a college player, and we considered drafting him or picking him up if he didn’t get drafted,” Vogel said. “But it was remarkable how well he played. I remember thinking he was a smaller or poor man’s Luka with the way he played in pick-and-roll. It was that impressive to me. He hadn’t shot the ball from 3 very well but we felt like that would come and that has come along really well. He’s an all-out sniper out there now, played unbelievable in USA Basketball. [The Lakers] were lucky to get him back.”
The former Lakers head coach clearly saw big things for Reaves from his college film and when he first got to the Lakers organization. By comparing him to a smaller Doncic, Vogel undeniably knew that Reaves was capable of this type of success.
The comparison to “poor man’s Doncic” makes some sense. Reaves is a more-than-capable floor general that is crafty with the ball in his hands, finds open teammates and can score it himself at will. Of course, the two are in different tiers, but the archetype is similar.
Vogel can now watch Reaves’ continued growth from within the division, getting four matchups a year with the Lakers.
Vogel has no hard feelings in return
Vogel had a famously shaky exit from the Lakers organization with the news breaking of his firing while he was still on the court for the team’s final game of the 2021-22 season. However, he doesn’t harbor any ill will toward the team and has only positive memories from his time with the Lakers.
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