Lao James 077 is only at this level! Reeves averaged 34+5+10 per game, not losing to SGA, and his annual salary is only 13 million

In the Lakers' 116-115 win over the Timberwolves in an away game, Reeves still performed very well. He played 40 minutes and made 9 of 24 shots, including 3 of 11 three-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws. He scored a huge double-double with 28 points and 16 assists, and finally completed a buzzer-beater. It is worth mentioning that this is also the third time in Reeves' career that he has completed a buzzer beater in the last 2 seconds of the game. The first two were the buzzer beater against the Mavericks on December 16, 2021, and the buzzer beater against the Warriors on December 26, 2024 on Christmas Day.

Although the Lakers have two superstars, James and Doncic, Reeves is undoubtedly the Lakers' hottest player at the moment. In the first five games of the season, Reeves scored 25+ points, becoming the first player in Lakers history since Kobe Bryant in 2005, and the sixth player in Lakers history to do this, alongside Baylor, West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant.

In the first five games of the season, Reeves scored a total of 171 points, which is also the fourth-most record in Lakers history, second only to Jerry West in 1969 (175 points), Kobe in 2005 (174 points), and Elgin Baylor in 1966 (172 points). Not only that, Reeves can also average 34.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game, shooting 52.5% from the field and 38.5% from three-point range.

Reeves's data is not only a superstar-level performance, enough to rival James and Doncic, but also not inferior to last season's MVP and FMVP Alexander. Alexander also had a very strong start, averaging 34.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the first 5 games, which was only about the same as Reeves's numbers, with far fewer assists.

In the last three games, with Doncic and James both absent, Reeves has performed at a dominant level, scoring 51 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, 41 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, and 28 points, 16 assists and a buzzer-beater. The statistics in each game are very luxurious. Reeves averaged 40 points and 10 assists in these three games, making him the second player in Lakers history after Jerry West.

It is worth mentioning that in the two games last season when Dong Zhan was absent at the same time, Reeves also performed as a superstar, scoring 45 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, and 37 points, 8 rebounds, 13 assists and 4 steals respectively. Since Doncic joined, in the 5 games that Zhan Dongjun missed, Reeves averaged 40.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 10 assists and 2.8 steals per game, shooting 50.8% from the field, 41.7% from the three-point range, and 95.2% from the free throw line. In other words, when Doncic and James are away, Reeves is a real superstar.

Moreover, Reeves' annual salary this season is only US$13.9 million, which can be said to be the most cost-effective contract in the league. Of course, this is also because Reeves is an undrafted player and can only get so much salary at most. However, next summer, Reeves can break out of the contract and get a maximum salary contract with a starting salary of 25% of the salary cap, up to 240 million in five years, and a starting salary of approximately 41.37 million. With Reeves' current strength, the Lakers may not be able to afford Reeves a maximum salary.