3 must-have free agents for the San Antonio Spurs this offseason

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May 12, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) reacts to the crowd after hitting a three point basket at the buzzer to end the first half of game six of the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

Must-have free agents for the Spurs: 1. Austin Reaves

With Austin Reaves a restricted free agent, the Spurs are one of the only teams that can give the LA Lakers a run for their money. Reportedly viewed as their third-best player by the Lakers’ Organization and someone they’d pay up to $100 million for, there’s good reason behind the hype. Reaves is coming off a playoff run where he averaged 16.9 points per game on staggering shooting efficiency of 61.6 true shooting percentage as a support piece to the Lakers’ Big 2 of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

While the undrafted second-year guard had a breakout postseason, there were signs of this brilliance in the regular season as well. As one of the most well-rounded young players in the league, Reaves ranked in the 95th percentile for Basketball Index’s ‘rim shot making’ metric, 85th percentile for ‘3PT shot making’, 91st percentile for ‘passing creation quality’ and in the 95th percentile for ‘on-ball perimeter defense’.

Even if the Spurs are not able to ultimately get Reaves, they should ensure that the Lakers are not able to get the youngster on a bargain.

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