Austin Reaves was already a good and valuable player for the Los Angeles Lakers early this season and prior to that. But lately, he has seemingly taken things to a higher level. He found himself with the basketball in his hands more and more throughout December as guard D'Angelo Russell saw his playing time wane before getting traded on Sunday.

The Lakers put their faith in Austin Reaves when they traded D'Angelo Russell, trusting the young shooter to help LeBron James and Anthony Davis.