Replacing James goes beyond filling points or assists. Speaking on The Draymond Green Show, Green argued that the Lakers will spend the next season realizing how much pressure James quietly absorbed every night, and why that burden now shifts onto the players around Luka Doncic.
Green noted that even after more than two decades of domination, many underestimate the weight James carried. “Anytime LeBron James is on the floor, A, your team has a chance to win, and B, you have to account for him in a major way. And I think, personally, the Lakers are going to feel that next year.”
While Doncic benefited from entering a situation where James drew much of the attention, Green doesn’t believe the added pressure will fall on Doncic alone now that James is gone.
“I think the pressure on Luka rises. Luka’s cut out for it, but I think the pressure on Austin Reaves rises even more now,” Green said.
Reaves’s role has changed dramatically. He entered the league as an undrafted guard with minimal external pressure, but in four seasons, he evolved into one of the Lakers’ primary offensive weapons while sharing the floor with James.
Draymond Green’s warning goes beyond Reaves’s scoring numbers. Throughout Reaves’s rise, the spotlight almost always belonged to LeBron James. Defenses game-planned for James first, while Reaves developed into one of the league’s most efficient secondary scorers. That environment allowed him to expand his offensive game without carrying the nightly expectations associated with franchise stars.
With James gone and a four-year, $185 million extension making Reaves the highest-paid undrafted player in NBA history, he is no longer viewed as a complementary piece. He’s expected to produce like one of the faces of the franchise.
Reaves’s growth has been steady each season. He averaged 7.3 points as a rookie, then rose to 13.0, 15.9, 20.2, and 23.3 points per game last season. More importantly, his offensive responsibilities grew in tandem, with increased ball-handling duties, pick-and-roll creation, and late-game opportunities becoming regular parts of his role.
A promising sign for the Lakers is that Reaves has already shown he can handle a larger workload. In games without James last season, he averaged 28.4 points, 7.8 assists, and 4.8 rebounds, with roughly a 30 percent usage rate. The team also found success with Doncic and Reaves sharing the floor without James, delivering strong net-rating during those stretches.
Head coach JJ Redick has indicated that the organization views Reaves differently now. “It’s as much Austin’s team as it is LeBron’s team or Luka’s team,” Redick said, underscoring how much responsibility the Lakers have placed on the 27-year-old.
Green’s warning isn’t about whether Reaves has the talent to handle the challenge. It’s about everything that comes with it. James didn’t just score and facilitate; he commanded defensive attention, absorbed criticism, and carried expectations that rarely reached his teammates. Next season, a much larger share of that responsibility will belong to Reaves, and for the first time in his career, he’ll be judged accordingly.
