For all the focus on what adding a center could do for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves looks as though he will be just as big a beneficiary of the Lakers' improved pick-and-roll game powered by new Los Angeles big man Deandre Ayton.

Reaves has developed a strong rapport with Ayton through two preseason games, turning in an efficient 21-point outing against Golden State on Sunday.

"I think that those things just grow through reps, and that's kind of what we're trying to do in preseason, is get those reps," Reaves said. "I'm not really sitting there thinking about it in the moment.

"If I go by my guy, I'm gonna go by them. If I need a screen, then I'll have him come screen. It's been fun getting to play alongside him in that pick-and-roll."

Ayton, who signed a two-year contract with the Lakers in July as they sought more consistent offensive production from the center position, agreed the live exhibition work alongside Reaves has been helpful in allowing him to understand the 6-foot-5 Oklahoma product's free-flowing approach to offense with the ball in his hands.

"He's super crafty," Ayton said. "I like to get lost in his little freedom' cause he has a lot of wiggle to his game, and I don't want to be in his way at all, so I let him do his thing."

Coach J.J. Redick used the same word, "crafty," to describe Reaves, who enters his fifth season in the NBA in better shape after the Lakers revamped their sports medicine staff. Those improvements are allowing Reaves to draw more free throws, which led Redick to an interesting player comparison.

"The ability to draw fouls, you put your hand there, and he's able to rise up. I played with a guy, Jamal Crawford, who was so good at that," Redick said. "So he's just picking up little tricks here and there to get to the free throw line. He's always been good at that, but you see that continue to develop."

Reaves enjoyed the association with Crawford, a three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner.

"I like that one, too. Jamal Crawford was cold," Reaves said. "I think where he's coming from is kind of the creativity offensively. I don't want to speak for him, but I'm not someone that sits there and plans what I'm about to do. Everything just kind of happens naturally, happens in the flow of the game. So I haven't heard that one, but I like J.J.a little more now."

The Lakers will need Reaves at his best when the regular season starts next week with LeBron James out because of sciatica, which will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks. Reaves, who averaged 20.2 points, 5.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds last season, cautioned it will take a team effort to replace James' production.

"I can't go LeBron, I wish I could, but I think you got to do it as a collective group, and that's what we'll do," Reaves said.

Ayton will play a key part in that assignment, in the two-man offensive game, be it with Reaves or Doncic. The 27-year-old Ayton has never averaged more than 1.9 assists in his seven seasons with Phoenix and Portland, but the Lakers believe they can unlock more of his play-making on and off the ball.

Redick said Ayton is already adapting well in his ability to create space for Reaves.

"I think DA is really good in terms of reading what the ball-handler's defender is doing," Redick said. "Him in the pocket has been really good, but he's made a concerted effort to get Austin open, like create advantages for Austin using his screening, which I think is only gonna benefit everyone down the line."

The first look at how Ayton meshes with Doncic should come at the Suns on Tuesday, which will likely be the first of two preseason games for the superstar guard following his summer run with Slovenia at the EuroBasket tournament.

If Ayton can show an on-court partnership with Doncic comparable to the early showings with Reaves, it will bode well for the Lakers' chances of starting strong, even without James.

"He's going to have a lot of responsibility this year for things that we want to do if we want to be as good as we think can be," Reaves said of Ayton.

"We need him to be his best self and whatever that looks like."

Agencies Via Xinhua